Chosen Two - Year Seven
by HeathenVampires
Summary: In between Vlad rebuilding himself and rebuilding their lives, there are new journeys to undertake and an unknown history for each to seek. Harry/Vlad slash. Rated for content and themes
1. Chapter 1

**And we're back!**

-YDHP-

Given the details he had about his 'blank time', few as they yet were, Vlad wasn't surprised Narcissa was wary of him.

"Harry?"

"He's... it's Vlad. For real. We just want to make sure he's alright before re-introducing him to the public."

Vlad held his hands up, trying to appear unthreatening. Apparition was thankfully as easy as it ever was.

"I don't really remember what I was like the past... however long, but it wasn't me. I have my mind back now, and I'd rather Harry ash me than ever let me hurt you or Amara."

Amara, it turned out, was already mobile. He wasn't quite walking unaided, but he pulled himself up on the sides of his little playpen and smiled up at Vlad.

"Hi!"

Vlad was relieved to find his urge to hurt them relatively minor, and he put it down to being ravenously thirsty. There was bagged human blood in the tent though, and once he slurped down a few bags Vlad felt much more like himself. Bertrand hovered warily, watching.

"Better?"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna try and get some rest, work on fixing myself tomorrow. Tonight. Whichever."

"Very well. I will return when necessary."

"Thanks."

Leaving by portkey, Bertrand vanished. Harry waited for Vlad to kick off his boots and throw off the shirt he had on, running his hand over his chest with scars old and new.

"Will that ever fade?"

"The staking? No idea. I don't think many have survived them. Bertrand has a couple of old scars from wood laced with stuff that leaves a reaction, and I'm sure several biters have been staked places besides the chest which makes it harder to actually slay us... but I guess we'll find out."

Harry immediately got into bed with Vlad, scent and feel of his mate dulled but not ineffective in relaxing Vlad. Their bond was broken when he was ashed, but Harry had obviously taken such close care of him while Vlad was... not himself, that the connection had strengthened itself that way. Physically restoring it could come later, when he was rested and his mind had calmed a little - Vlad didn't want to risk hurting his mate, and sex had always been a little wild, much harder to control himself in the heat of the moment with Harry.

"You sure you feel alright?"

"Yeah. Tired, mostly. And nervous about going back to civilsation. And that isn't even including dealing with my dad and this new brother I apparently have."

Nodding, Harry ran fingers over Vlad's side, the touch leaving tingles in its wake. They laid together for a while, Harry drifting off first and his rhythmic breathing enough of a lullaby for Vlad to finally dare rest. He'd been worried if he slept that it would let his reflections out for so long, the nerves still lingered now.

But he woke next to Harry, who remained unbitten and sound asleep, warmer than Vlad and lovely to cuddle with. He couldn't imagine what his mate must have gone through to deal with _that _Vlad before, and even with eternity to try Vlad doubted he would manage to ever repay Harry for it.

Harry began to stir soon after Vlad woke, immediately seeking him out with a soft smile.

"Hey. Still with me?"

"Always. Sleep alright?"

"Mmm."

He left for the bathroom quickly, but returned and slid back into bed with Vlad for a quiet few minutes of nothing but tactile contact. It was incredible, and Vlad completely felt like _himself _at last.

"We should get you fed and then get in touch with Bertrand. The sooner you feel safe again, the better."

"Guess so. How long have we even been out here?"

"Uh, a good few weeks now, I'm not actually sure."

Vlad rolled onto his back, Harry following him instinctively to lay his head on Vlad's chest.

"What about Sally and George?"

"Ingrid looked in on them, told them you were hurt and having trouble with vamp stuff. They want to see you, but we agreed you weren't safe."

They'd been protecting his family from him, and Vlad hadn't even known.

"Thank you. I have no idea how you managed to... cope, all this time."

Harry sat up, looking down at Vlad with a stern determination writ across his face.

"I knew _you_ were in there somewhere, and I was coming to get you whether you liked it or not. It was worth it, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

After he'd downed some blood, they headed out so Harry could eat while Vlad scribbled a note through the two-way books they owned, which had Bertrand being delivered to the tent by phoenix only a few minutes later.

"How are you feeling Vlad?"

"Like me still. Just need to work out the little bugs really. So, shall we get started?"

Vlad hated meditation as much as he always had, but it was imperative - as Bertrand always said - that Vlad master himself, and learn to maintain control or else the little attempts his darker side had made so far to eek out could become huge fights for control. Vlad was powerful, but he also had to be strong with himself, and he wasn't invincible. Nor were the people around him, and that was the real risk - Vlad's dark side wouldn't hurt _him, _but it could certainly hurt others.

With a lack of other things to use as tests, Bertrand tried offering Vlad soya blood again. He reached for the bottle, felt his hand shaking, twitching, grit his teeth and forced his fingers to close around the bottle.

It shattered as his fist clenched tight, soya and vampire blood dripping to the floor from his hand full of broken glass. Sighing, he cleaned the mess and healed himself, glad to see his magic still responded as expected.

"Do you feel more powerful?"

"Not particularly, but I haven't done anything to really push a limit with it to be sure. I'm sure _someone_ will pick a fight with me and we can find out eventually."

"You do appear to have a talent for trouble."

"I don't go looking for it."

"It just finds us."

Harry sat down next to him, leant against Vlad and sighed softly in contentment. Their reconnection was already strengthening, clear in the way their magic and emotions responded to such simple touch.

"Precisely. And in our defence, we've dealt with every trouble so far. Mostly."

Fed and in need of a little movement after his attempts at meditation, Vlad got up to follow Harry to the kitchen so his mate could eat. Narcissa and Bertrand were their typical cordial selves to one another while Harry wolfed down at least three full portions of breakfast, followed by a slice of cake that was keeping under a charm.

"Better?"

"Mhmm!"

Harry answered, mouth still full before he washed the cake down with tea.

"I will return this evening to work with you again, try not to over-exert yourself mentally for the while. I need you in peak concentration tonight."

"I will, and thanks Bertrand. Take the portkey so Fawkes won't have to keep playing taxi."

After he left, Vlad looked up from his cup of tea to see Narcissa still regarding him warily as she supervised Amara making his way through a bowl of mushy food. He was a smiley thing, which might never have stopped surprising Vlad.

"I know you're nervous, and it's fine. Once we know I'm in control, you'll be free. This was never meant to be such a permanent solution."

She nodded after a minute.

"I think I shall almost miss the mountains."

"Well, you can always visit them again."

"True."

Harry finished his second cup of tea before he spoke again.

"Draco said they're working on untangling the financial mess Riddle left behind, because he had fingers in a lot of old family pies. But his legal agreement with you still stands Narcissa, so you won't be financially dependent on anyone, or stuck in any one place."

Draco knew his mother was alive, that she wasn't... evil, but Vlad still thought there would be a great rift to heal, and the two might not reconcile immediately. They mightn't even be able to live together.

"And what of the two of you?"

"Well, we... actually, did we _decide_ to go looking for her?"

Harry shrugged.

"I figured we would, I know you want to and you said it would be better to do before you're closing in on eighteen, because of your title."

"Looking for who?"

"The dragon mother.."

Narcissa cocked her head, confused.

"That's a myth."

Vlad hummed.

"Most myths have their roots in truth, and as I was able to communicate with a dragon with no prior knowledge _how, _it feels like there's a degree of truth already to the idea that we came from the same bloodline. My surname _does _translate to dragon."

"What of Amara?"

He shared a look with his mate, who nodded.

"He's coming with us. He's not safe away from us, not with who his parents are. I know you want to be in his life, but I hardly imagine you want to be dragged along on our trip."

Narcissa stayed quiet, looking between he and Amara a few times before turning away. Harry didn't let it linger.

"If you want to come, you can, but wouldn't it be better for you to start readjusting to normal life? We can always check in, visit with him. It's not like we're stuck for transport with the phoenix vampire over there."

"Perhaps."

They left it at that - her voice had shook a little on the end, and it was clear the sheer amount of time she'd spent freely bonding with the boy had taken a toll on the idea they'd be seperated. He doubted caring for a small child would be _easy _on the road, as it were, but between magic and will, they ought to manage.

"We're not leaving right away anyway, you need to spend time with the humans and I think Ingrid would skin us alive if you came back and vanished right away again after she's worried about you so long."

"Probably, but don't ever let _her _hear you say that."

Harry laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Good point."

* * *

Packing up the tent in their little cave space felt surreal - they'd been there months now, really, months of war and terror and hiding, recovering.

Bertrand's sessions with Vlad had been helpful, but they'd found a speedier way to ground Vlad's control - Harry. It took the vampire a few days to feel comfortable initiating physicality with Harry, wary of being too strong or losing control in a bad way, but it had been _oh so _worth the wait.

He could still feel Vlad's hands clutch at his shoulders, remembered the way pale thighs squeezed at stocky hips as Harry leant over him, almost mindless with the _finally, at last_ feeling of their bodies connecting again. The magic of their bond clicking back into place had been more powerful than any skin-deep pleasure, but that didn't stop them pushing for that too. His hand laced with Vlad's at the side of the vampires head, Harry's free hand supporting his weight as Vlad's roamed his chest, his back, re-learning the contours of his muscles.

They should have been sloppy, clumsy, but it turned out that instinct and familiarity had never left as Harry pressed deeper into Vlad, watching him, feeling drunk on the responsiveness of shaking muscles and low, needy whines.

And once they started? It took quite a while to stop. Both of them were tired, but beaming and tactile and affectionate. Vlad was even drinking soya blood, no violence against it in sight. If sex kept him in check, it was a service Harry was _more _than happy to provide.

Vlad shouldered his backpack, Harry picked up Amara, and Narcissa took Vlad's other hand when they were ready to go.

"Ok. Here we go."

There was the soft, warm sensation that often accompanied being popped from place to place via phoenix magic, the caves around them gone to be replaced by the less-familiar walls of Malfoy Manor. Clearly, Draco had been redecorating. He must have needed a hobby while they were all effectively in hiding.

"Harry!"

He was spotted first by an excitable little whirlwind, Raven rushing over as fast as a toddler could to get to him and hug his leg. Vlad took Amara so Harry could reach down and pick Raven up, breathing in her unique scent and feeling his heart lift at her joyful, giggly greetings.

"Did I hear- Harry! Vlad! You're back!"

From Draco's angle at the doorway, he'd not spotted the shorter woman behind them, but as soon as he took a few steps toward them, he caught sight of Narcissa and stopped dead.

"Mother."

He saw Narcissa shake from the corner of his eye, but she pulled herself together and the tremor in her voice was barely detectable.

"Draco."

"Who that?"

Raven had no time for adult tension - she was intrigued by Amara.

"This is Amara. He's... someone Vlad and I will be taking care of."

"Oh. Hi!"

Amara surveyed her with his oddly keen stare, gnawing on his fist in the meantime. Others had been summoned by the noise to see them stood there, a spectacle holding infants and a sign the fight really was over at last - both against Riddle and against Vlad's reflections. There were hugs and greetings and Draco took the opportunity to avoid the confrontation with his mother by dashing off to contact the Weasleys.

"You guys have the same rooms!"

Draco called out behind him, and Vlad turned to Harry.

"We should go unpack Amara's stuff, at the very least."

"Yeah, good idea."

Narcissa followed silently, and Harry didn't blame her - everyone was looking. Knowing she wasn't evil and _knowing _it were two different things. But if Draco was ready to invite the Weasleys over right away, he obviously didn't actually consider his mother to be a threat.

Their timing was fortuitous, as Amara needed to be changed just in time as he was laid on the big bed, stretching his legs out and giggling joyfully. Harry offered to take diaper duty since it was something they'd have to get used to doing anyway, while Vlad made sure they had something for the small boy to eat and drink. They'd not been up there all that long when Vlad straightened up, sensing the shifts in magic as others joined them in the Manor.

"I know you don't want to do this, but if we explain about you properly to everyone all at once, then we only have to do it once. And I get the feeling Draco wants an explanation more than anyone, so lets just get it over with?"

Vlad asked Narcissa, who eventually nodded but reached for Amara. Harry handed him over, letting her feel bolstered by the solid weight of he who had needed her recently. Draco might have needed her before, when she couldn't be there, but he was grown almost to manhood by then and had a new family of sorts, new people to rely on. Harry knew there was enough there for them to rebuild, given time, but they really did have to start at the beginning.

"Ok. Ready?"

They headed down the stairs, Narcissa taking her surroundings in a little more now. It must have looked fairly different, infused with a new flavour of life after so many had been in and out of there.

"Vladdo! Harry!"

The Weasley twins leapt on them eagerly, and they were soon passed around for hugs and scolding and "we were worried!", then exclamations of joy to see them again. And then everyone noticed Narcissa and Amara, and Vlad drew in a deep breath at Harry's side.

"We'll explain, but you have to hear us out, alright?"

Shuffled toward a bigger room suited to seating them all, food and drinks appeared all around them courtesy of elves, who seemed to melt away but Harry would have bet anything they were listening in, curious about the return of the Malfoy matriarch after so long.

"Alright. I guess we start from the beginning, when we left to 'join' Riddle..."

-YDHP-

**I know it's been a while, I know you've all been really patient, and I appreciate it a lot. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh wow, I did ****_not _****mean to make you guys wait so long, and I can only apologise. My mental health is very bad, my focus nonexistent and I lost my notes for Year Six, so I had to actually go back and ****_read _****Year Six to write this chapter, which took a while.**

-YDHP-

Tension rose slowly in the room as words were sought to explain the months that had passed and the events that had filled them.

"Well, most of you know that Riddle 'recruited' me to recruit Harry, and to prove it Harry was meant to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore realised it, and recruited _me _to kill him in Harry's place, because he was dying and, well, he knew I'd do it to protect Harry's soul. It gave us the chance to infiltrate deeper than anybody could, and it worked because everyone is so convinced vampires are evil, that my 'defection' could only be genuine, and Harry was my unwitting victim."

"He really was dying then?"

"Yeah, and quickly. His magic was failing, he was amazed he'd lived most of the year. So high on painkillers I was amazed he could walk sometimes. When Riddle stormed Hogwarts, Dumbledore had to use that Strengthening stuff Aurors use just to hold him off long enough to be believable. The smoke shield was intentional, so nobody would know it was me who cast the spell. We gave everyone a minute to take it in, and I made Riddle leave."

"How, exactly?"

Vlad lifted his soya to his lips and took a swallow before carrying on.

"In return for 'recruiting Harry', I bound him to an Unbreakable Vow. I had a minor measure of control over him. So, we left. It was about three days between me last being there and us 'moving in', in which time Bellatrix had given birth to Amara here. For a couple of days we just slowly worked our way around, picked fights and irritated Riddle. Harry duelled against a Marked student, I beat some old timer in a mask. And as _celebration" _Vlad winced, the pit in his stomach keen in the second "he brought out a... I hesitate to use the word shell, but there was so much magic active on Narcissa she was barely even aware of anything."

Draco frowned, glancing between Vlad and his mother for a beat.

"When you say 'celebration'..."

"Yes. Rather than sit and watch your mother being passed around like a party favour for a celebratory rape, I told Riddle Harry and I were taking her" Draco's frown deepened "with absolutely no intention of doing anything other than getting her out of there. Healed her wounds, undid _years _of awful magic. Then we just sort of had to... keep her around, really. When you're stuck with each other, you learn to live together. Mostly Narcissa just liked to bake, and she'd make us tea when we got back from meetings and raids."

Harry took over - he'd been there for most of it, after all.

"There were a few trips here and there, but we spent a lot of time in the HQ just learning and planning. Riddle killed Gregorovitch, we broke into his house. Went to Godric's Hollow, met Bathilda Bagshot. Those Dark Marks were Vlad, by the way. Then we broke into Nurmengard, met Grindelwald."

"I killed him."

"But he did ask for it. Literally. Then we broke into Hogwarts. Kidnapped Amara, pulled the horcrux out of Nagini and hid in Romania before breaking in to Gringotts."

"Narcissa has helped us take care of Amara a lot. I think we'd probably have lost our minds balancing everything else that was going on, and we were gone for hours at a time. Would have been awkward with a baby buggy."

Everyone blinked and absorbed for a minute, quietly stunned by the overload of information.

"So, that's actually their kid? Lestrange and Voldemort?"

"His name is Amara, and yes. And, for all intents and purposes now, he's mine and Harry's child."

"You're gonna raise Voldemorts kid?"

Vlad nodded.

"Well, Harry killed both of his parents, and we all know he won't be safe with anyone else. Even some of you are thinking he should be _checked _and _kept an eye on_, and I consider you open minded people. If the Ministry got hold of him, at best he'd be locked up and watched, and at worst, killed before he grows up. He's a good kid, and he deserves a chance to grow up like any other child."

"He hasn't done anything wrong. We took him before anything could be _done _to him. Amara is no different to any other child his age, except for getting adopted by a vampire."

They went into more details - the horcruxes, Gringotts. There were laughs at their pranks and jokes in an effort to stay sane, and Vlad promised details of all the effects the Skiving Snackboxes had had on the Death Eaters.

"Wait, you saw Charlie?"

"Yeah. We went to ask about dragons. We flew there from where we were camping in Romania."

"Where was that, exactly?"

"Carpathian Mountains."

It didn't feel like there was _time _to go into every detail, and that was before they got into the mess of Vlad and his reflections, of living with a shadow of the former vampire and feeling like he was a ticking time bomb. They'd all but vanished, returned to kill Riddle, and vanished again while they tried to deal with Vlad's absent self. Political meltdown could have happened while they were away, and he'd barely have noticed.

"You need to check in with the VHC soon, they're going bats wondering where you got to."

"They can wait. There's more pressing conversations here at home. Draco, Narcissa, come on, I have a lot of real life to catch up on after we address all... _that._"

He stood, but Draco turned to his girlfriend and Hermione stood without hesitation. Harry reluctantly handed over Raven to her father, but Narcissa kept hold of Amara as Vlad led them all to another room for a little peace and privacy. Door closed and warded - more out of habit than anything - they sat around. Narcissa wouldn't meet her sons eye, and Draco was little better.

"Look. I'm not going to pretend I know what went on when you were a kid, but I was the one to undo the magic on your mother, and we've lived with her for the better part of a year now. It's your choice, but I think you should give her a chance. She suffered from your father just like you did" Narcissa looked up at Vlad, frowning "when we first 'took you', you had a bunch of fresh wounds I had to heal. When I checked you over, you had some pretty old ones. I healed those properly too."

They didn't have a lot to say, but he still thought they had a lot _left _to say to each other. It would just take time - Draco had at one point genuinely thought his mother wanted him dead, that she was complicit and perhaps even participant in his childhood abuse. They'd fought to rebuild a family from broken parts and Draco was flourishing in that. He wasn't obligated to forgive or accept Narcissa again, but Vlad hoped they could _start _to repair their relationship soon.

Narcissa reluctantly let Vlad take Amara, and he left Harry to mediate as he knew Draco better. He took the infant out to meet everyone else properly, so they could start getting used to the fact Amara was just a normal baby. He gnawed his fist as Vlad carried him about, though he had a gummy, gap-toothed smile for anyone who got close enough.

"He's really... ok?"

Fred asked, observing Amara as he was observed right back.

"Yeah. Same developmental milestones, appetite and general... everything as a normal human baby. Smells right to me. He's just energetic and inquisitive, he likes mashed bananas and splashing us when we bath him."

"May I?"

Mrs Weasley asked, and Vlad hesitated for a few seconds but eventually handed him over. Amara fussed, but eventually peered up at her curiously and let out a happy little sound. Everyone watched as though they expected him to explode, but the Weasley matriarch began to coo and play with him like any mother might fuss with her own baby, and Amara responded with smiles and wriggles.

"I can't deny he's a sweet little thing."

He grew tired of being handed around, letting out disgruntled noises and reaching toward Vlad again until he was rescued by the vampire.

"I know you're all going to be wary, but I'm asking you to give us a chance, give _him _a chance. Not everyone with Black blood is bad, and if you can accept _me, _you can accept that parentage isn't everything."

They all shared looks before sighing, nodding.

"Alright, that's fair."

"Thank you. I'm gonna put him down for a nap, if they come back I'm only upstairs."

He was napping less, but it had been over an hours conversation and a lot of meeting new people, so it was little wonder the boy was fussy and irritable. Vlad placed him down in his pop up crib - there was little point in something more permanent when they'd be back living in the tent again soon. Sure, Vlad could apparate just about anywhere, but they didn't know what they were looking for really.

"There we go."

Vlad flopped, face down, across the bed himself and groaned. He wasn't used to people, with all the noise and heartbeats and scents. He'd adjust, sure, but the moments peace was greatly needed. Eventually rolling onto his back, his body settled with the feel of his mate growing closer, heard the faint sound of steps and door as Harry peered into the room. Amara had already dozed off, and Harry nuzzled his way into Vlad's hold without a word.

"How was it?"

"They're talking. I removed wands" Harry held them up, having only fairly recently found and returned Narcissa's to her "and Draco even said Hermione could go. I did suggest a glass of Firewhiskey."

Biting back a laugh, Vlad burrowed his face into Harry's neck, inhaling his mates scent.

"I didn't mean to dump it on you, I just wanted to make sure everyone got used to him."

Harry nodded, squeezing Vlad gently.

"I know. We're basically dads now."

He hadn't really thought of it like that, but Harry was right.

"Oh, yeah. He's not immortal though, which is peculiar for our... son."

The word still felt a little peculiar on his tongue, but he'd get used to it.

"Maybe when he's old enough to decide, you could ask if he wants to be."

Harry murmured, thumb sliding over the tingling scars on Vlad's neck. Vlad supposed that was true - he was perfectly capable of turning their... _son, _and with access to magic, vampirism was not as painfully limiting as it would be in the Muggle world. Not that he'd ever push it on Amara; Vlad had spent years resenting what he was, and without Harry he likely still would.

But perhaps in all the years Amara may live as a mortal, he might wish to join them on the long haul, as it were. Or he might not. Vlad knew loss was a part of letting himself get attached to those with shorter lifespans than him, and one day that might include the young one slumbering close by.

No matter what the future held for all of those around him though, Vlad knew he'd always have a constant in his eternal unlife; he would always have Harry.

-YDHP-

**I've taken a brief hiatus from HTTYD fics so that I can catch up properly on my other fandoms, so with any luck Chosen Two won't take me a month at a time to update again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I totally did not write half a chapter, tell myself I would finish it tomorrow and forget about it for a week and a half... *whistles innocently***

-YDHP-

Stretching a kink out of his back that Harry affectionately called 'wing ache' after their flight earlier, Vlad took a deep breath and smiled as his mate held Amara tight. He certainly didn't look like the child of two specimens of pure evil, sucking his thumb with curly hair hanging over big green eyes.

"Well... let's do this."

His guard was definitely up the second they stepped through the door. Vlad definitely expected to get attacked. No curses or sunshine came firing toward him, but the tension in the air could be cut with the bluntest of fangs as they took he and the 'evil child' in. Harry tightened his arms around Amara a little more, enough that the boy huffed but didn't try to wriggle free.

"I scarcely know where to begin."

Vlad cocked his head, scanning the surface thoughts of the man in front of him. Acting Minister... politics hadn't bothered to sort itself out while he was gone, apparently. And the acting Minister really wanted Vlad's ashes on a plate, plus to lock Amara up and poke him to see what hidden powers might be there. Weaponising an infant... his hand curled into a fist at his side, but Vlad mastered the urge to just kill him and be done with it.

"Sure you do. Remember you're talking to a mind reader."

The man paled rather quickly, mental barriers thrown up as he backed away and refused to look at Vlad. Smiling to himself, Vlad beckoned over a couple of chairs - what use was hiding the tamer of his powers now? - and perched in one as Harry sat in the other.

"Anyone else? I'm only doing this once."

Swallowing thickly, a reporter from the _Daily Prophet _stood up, heart twenty beats a minute above its normal rate by the flush of his skin.

"You killed Dumbledore."

"I'm sure this has been covered countless times while I was... away. He was dying, I put him out of his misery, just like he _asked _me to. And it was all part of the plan none of you had to take down the psychopath and his minions. You know there's three Dark Marks in here, right? What good are your Aurors if you can't find them all?"

There was a deep intake of breath, everyone looking around for the possible traitors. One right at the back - hardly a cunning plan, really - leapt up, brandishing their wand and looking as though he really expected to get anywhere with their trick.

"Give me his child!"

Vlad slid down in his seat a little more, getting comfortable. Harry shifted Amara on his lap, but didn't move.

"No?"

Flicking his hand lazily, the wand pointing at him was flung to the side, the wizard along with it stuck to the wall. A trick of his fathers, coming in handy now.

"Anyone else?"

"You can't seriously expect to just take You-Kno-" Vlad glared "V-Voldemort's child without allowing access to-"

"Watch me. He's a perfectly ordinary human child. We got him out before he was six months old, which you know means nothing was done to him. If you want to get to Amara, you will have to go through me and Harry, and if Riddle couldn't do it, you lot can't."

And they were all _terrified_ of angering the Vampire High Council, which helped Vlad get away with his attitude, wanting to be done already; he wasn't comfortable around humans.

Their questions bandied back and forth, someone eventually asking what he planned to do with the wizard still glued to the wall.

"Well I lack any faith whatsoever in the Ministry, but sure, you can make a passing facade of arresting him for public opinion."

He'd been outed by and large to the public as a vampire thanks to the _Prophet, _so Vlad bared his fangs before he stood up.

"Anything else? Only I have plans."

"The child-"

"Is my responsibility. Anyone who comes near him will face the wrath of a pissed off vampire and Harry James Potter, who I personally watched take down your big wizard threat. You are not dragging him away somewhere to poke and prod and groom."

"But you are?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry stepped forward, Amara fussy with the crowd and shyly burying his head in Harry's chest.

"Does he look like we've been mistreating him? He deserves a chance to grow up without being treated like some lab rat freak, which you're all dying to do. As far as we're concerned, he's our son and you won't harm him."

"Your... what _exactly_ is the nature of your relationship?"

The two shared a look, Vlad tipping his head to Harry; his choice.

_"It's you the VHC care about."_

_"**And they are next on my list to tell. I'm not hiding unless you aren't ready to come out."  
**_

"We've been dating for a couple of years now. I think. Hard to pin down" Vlad bit back a laugh "but yeah, he's my boyfriend."

"Vampires don't date humans. It violates your very own laws!"

Vlad shrugged. He wondered if the papers would beat him to alerting the VHC.

"He's my mate. He was chosen for me regardless of laws. Now if that's everything, we have a trip to Hogwarts and the VHC to get done."

Acknowledging his future in politics wasn't yet on Vlad's agenda, but he also knew using the Ministry meeting as a practice field was a better idea than using the VHC for practice, and the attitude of indifference and refusal to back down would be _essential _come meetings with millenia old vampires, more stubborn than sensible.

Harry followed him out of the meeting room, door locked behind them for amusement as much as camoflauge as Vlad grabbed his mates hand and apparated them out of there before anyone could catch up, both sharing a laugh at the idea of them trying to work out where they had gone so fast. Hogwarts materialised around them, Professor McGonogall yelping in surprise when they appeared in _her _office now she was free and clear the Head of Hogwarts.

"Vladimir! I'm getting too old for this!"

"Nonsense, you're tough as anything. Are we late?"

"No no, early... so, this is he?"

He nodded and stepped aside so she could get a good look over Amara for herself. Of all the people who'd been on their side quietly in the background, McGonogall was probably their most trusted.

"His name is Amara. Honestly, he's harmless."

"You're sure?"

Harry nodded, boosting Amara up a little.

"Seriously. A hundred percent ordinary human child. We got him out before they could use any magic to sway him, and if anyone can understand birth not dictating every iota of personality the way most people think, it's Vlad. And where Vlad goes, I go. So... that makes him our kid, really."

They had a lot of explanations to repeat, a lot of people to appease and work out allegiances with. And not terribly long to do it if they were to get on with things like tracking down the mother of dragons before Vlad's eighteenth birthday loomed over them and tied his future up with leading the vampire world. Unless things were truly, utterly dire, he was in no hurry to take the spot early.

"Hi!"

Amara waved, seeing that Vlad and Harry liked this person. His gap-toothed smile lit up his whole face, and Vlad _saw _it thaw McGonogall a little.

"Who was taking care of him while you were waiting to rescue him?"

"Narcissa Mal- sorry, Narcissa _Black. _She's on our side, for real."

With Lucius long dead and the legalities of her ownership seperated from Draco and Riddle at last, Narcissa had filed to change back to Black. Sirius was wary, but Harry had talked him round.

"Really? We had a lot of trouble with her, you remember."

"And none of it her choice. I unwound a lot of magic from her, and she actively _helped _us find things we needed to destroy horcruxes and slow Riddle down, never complained we kept her effectively prisoner. Took care of Amara all the time and she kept us fed. Honestly, she was invaluable once she was herself again."

"And how is young Draco Malfoy taking the return of his mother?"

"They are... figuring it out. I think. Shall we get this done? Harry and I outed ourselves to the Ministry and so I have to face the VHC about my boyfriend today too."

"Yes, yes. Most, if not everyone has either spoken with Albus" she gestured to the portrait of a fake-sleeping headmaster "or seen my memories for themselves."

And they would still doubt Vlad despite that, now his vampirism was out.

"But I still have to prove Harry is fine, and explain myself. I know."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, McGonogall smiled tightly.

"I am on your side boys... although I suppose you have earned the right to be called men by now. Will you be returning to Hogwarts?"

Harry shook his head.

"Probably not. We might apply to sit our NEWTs when the Ministry is less of a shambles, on the principle of finishing education we fought to make safer."

"If you decide that, contact me and I will ensure you both have access to tutorage."

"Thanks."

Vlad was about to turn and leave when he stilled, turned back and whistled. Fawkes appeared upon his shoulder with a chirp, rubbing his head against Vlad and trilling softly when he stroked the phoenix's feathers gently.

"You can bring that stone back now, I think McGonogall has earned it and the magic around Hogwarts could do with some stability."

Once he reset the wards to pre-battle, he handed it over to the new Headmistress.

"I trust you'll take good care of it, but if it ever needs keeping safe again let me know."

_Then _they could go, and so they went. Harry didn't seem to mind carting their son around so Vlad had hands free in case of a fight, broad arms cradling the weight of the boy seemingly effortlessly. They'd debated not taking Amara with them to Hogwarts, but since they were only meeting with the teachers that day, it felt less dangerous. Especially since the staff had been whittled down considerably by the whole Dark vs Light battle.

"Alright, bring on the questi- who are you?"

Vlad sniffed as soon as he could seperate the new mans scent, working out a magical Muggle-born human. Short brown hair and fairly broad in the shoulder - nothing on _Harry,_ but still - he stepped forward quite confidently, looking Vlad up and down.

"This is the vampire, yeah?"

"Mr Rowley, do calm yourself. Harry, Vlad, this is Piers Rowley, the replacement Muggle Studies teacher. I chose him personally, and brought him in early to discuss adding mandatory Muggle Studies classes for all students."

They nodded in understanding, but Vlad was left feeling very much _observed _by the breather.

"Right. Hi."

The other teachers had few questions and more congratulations really, commending their dedication and the sacrifice they saw the double-agent work as. It hadn't been their favourite time, Vlad supposed.

"Are you a vampire too?"

The new teacher asked Harry, who could only blink owlishly in surprise at the question suddenly plopped in with the queries and conversation about fighting dark wizards.

"Uh. No. Human. Not to sound conceited, but how do you _not _know who I am?"

"I never went to magic school, I was home schooled by a witch who lived in the local village. My parents sent me to an expensive school, they weren't wasting it and so I finished my Muggle education. Makes me an excellent candidate for teaching kids about Muggle life, don'tcha think?"

Given how his accent had _clearly _developed in Scotland, Vlad was not surprised he'd found someone local who knew magic, but amused how close he had lived while not attending Hogwarts.

"Right. And you happen to like vampires, I take it?"

"I _love_ vampires. I even designed vampire computer games, and-"

"Mr Rowley!"

"Sorry boss."

Vlad sympathised as McGonogall rubbed the bridge of her nose, but it had worked to get 'Piers' to leave Vlad alone for the moment at least. Amara began to shuffle, growing bored of sitting quietly in Harry's lap and Vlad figured it was close to time he ate. It was an excellent excuse to escape the overly excited vampire fanatic teacher, and McGonogall escorted them to the gates of the school herself so they could talk alone again.

"Do keep in touch, and thank you for agreeing to answer for yourselves."

"No problem. Getting it all out the way at once, we have things to do before Vlad becomes some vampire king."

"I see. Well, do _try_ to keep out of trouble, and be sure to encourage your friends and family to take my offer for repeating seventh year if you won't do so yourself."

"We will. You should consider asking Remus to take up Defence teaching again, he was one of the best."

Smiling at Harry's suggestion, McGonogall nodded.

"I will certainly consider it. Good luck with your kind, Vladimir."

Gritting his fangs at _Vladimir, _he nodded rather than pull her on it. Some people would never change.

"Thanks. Ready Harry?"

Harry shifted Amara to one arm, promised they were going to get some food to quiet the boys complaints and reached for Vlad's hand.

"Ready."

-YDHP-

**Honestly I could probably write entire chapters of new found family fluff with these two and Amara, but I will try to stay on track with story.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry I have such a poor sense of time, I will swear it's been like a week since an update and then realise whoops almost a month... **

-YDHP-

"You realise you're raising your uncle as your son, right?"

Harry nodded at Ingrid, holding the bottle of formula up for Amara - he was mostly weaned, but bottle feeding soothed him and it had been a busy day already.

"Yeah. But so what? A lot of people don't know who my grandfather was, and I'm happy to keep it that way."

Vlad was pacing, keen to be done dealing with the VHC but stopping to feed Amara was important, especially if they didn't want him to be fussy in a room full of vampires. Amara took over holding his bottle to finish it, glugging it down happily. Nobody paid it much mind for a minute, but Harry saw Vlad staring and followed his eyeline to see that despite being done, and his hands down at his sides, the empty bottle was still floating where it had been held. Ingrid cocked her head, surprised.

"Isn't he a little young for that?"

Harry looked to Vlad - magical theory was his area.

"Accidental magic has been recorded as young as six months in very minor amounts, so not _too _young. It's still something we should keep an eye on. Riddle had some degree of command over his 'accidental' magic by the age of seven, and about as much as a first year with a wand by the time he was ten. I'd have to ask Narcissa how Bellatrix was on that, but it's not like we didn't know he had two powerful parents from the start. We should prepare for the possibility of having to train his control before he's eleven."

Nodding, Harry grabbed the bottle before it fell, placing it aside and wiping Amara's face.

"Ready to go meet some grumpy old vampires?"

"Yeah!"

Grinning, Amara turned and reached for Vlad, rather spoiled for being carried around and cuddled a lot, and he was an affectionate thing when he wanted to be. He didn't ever appear bothered by the fact Vlad and Harry ran cooler than most, though since Harry actually still had a pulse he was warmer than Vlad.

"Alright then. Assuming nothing holds us up, I'm going to go explain... everything to Sally and George when we're done at the VHC. Which could take a while, but after that I think we're about done with all the major catching up and can take a brea- a _break _for a couple of days, make sure we're ready to go wandering again."

Harry heard the implications laced in - so they could spend time with their friends and family for a little while before they headed out to find something they had no real ideas on finding just yet.

"Works for me. Ready to go?"

"Just giving Amara a minute to be awkward and decide he needs changing."

Almost as though on cue, Vlad held the boy out to Harry, nose wrinkled.

"Gee, thanks Amara. C'mon, lets get you cleaned up and then we can go watch Vlad scare some old bats."

Clapping, Amara grinned as Harry picked up his baby bag and carried him through to the bathroom, leaving Vlad to chat to his sister for a minute. Changing him quickly, Harry watched Amara gnaw his fist, wriggling a little as he waited to be picked up again. Sure, technically the boy was his uncle, but on the other hand Harry felt like it was very fitting that he got to help raise Amara - it didn't matter where they came from, they were family and after everything that happened to get them there, they were getting a whole new chance.

"Come on, we have stuff to do before you can continue charming everyone."

After a little giggle, they headed back to where Vlad was waiting. He smiled, kissed Harry and the tension leeched out of him. Amara giggled some more while Harry reached for Vlad's hand, nodding his farewell to Ingrid and the others before they popped out. In a completely different part of Romania to where they'd lived in their tent before, Harry still felt a little familiarity for it - they'd flown over several miles of the country, and it was where Vlad was born, too.

The sun was setting as they looked up toward the building, the smell of time and death and blood seeming laced into the very foundations. He knew before civilsation and Slayer technology of the last hundred years or so, vampirism was a much bloodier, more violent way of life. Vlad might have been the most unvampiric vampire ever to exist, but a couple of centuries ago Vlad joked he'd have been executed for fear of passing on his pacifism.

"Let me do the talking at first, though to be honest they aren't likely to want to talk to you much anyway."

"Charming!"

Vlad gave him an exasperated smile, Harry boosted Amara up a little and they headed in - it wasn't a dwelling, so there was no need for an invitation to allow him to enter. There were two vampires on them almost the instant the door closed behind them, sniffing disdainfully and looking the three of them over.

"Dracula? What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm here for a meeting, if you want an explanation you can hover in the corner or something, now get out of my way."

They did so, scattering and stammering slightly as they pointed Vlad to the meeting room they would be using. Everything was black and red and brick, cobwebs thick in every corner. Harry wasn't a clean freak, but he had the strongest urge to whip out a dusting charm or twelve.

The vampires he was meeting with were already assembling, blood in goblets at every seat on the table - including the one clearly meant for Vlad. He raised the goblet to his face and inhaled, then flung it against the wall where the delicate glass shattered.

"I'm not going to bother asking who tried to poison me, I expected nothing more from a room full of power hungry coffin lodgers and for future reference, I drink _soy _blood."

They shuffled awkwardly amongst themselves, nobody quite daring to speak right away. Amara watched through wide eyes, gnawing on his fist again. Finally, someone broke the silence.

"We have heard some disturbing news regarding this... _breather._"

"Yeah, I expected the Ministry would barely be able to contain themselves. This is Harry. He's not fully human, and he's my mate. Anyone who wants to test that is welcome to come get their throat ripped out for going near him."

"Only a vampire can be a vampires mate!"

Vlad tsked, rolling his eyes.

"Clearly not. He helps keep my powers in check so I don't explode, he keeps my temper even and both my magic and vampiric sides respond uniquely to him. It happened. Let's move on. Anyone who tries to talk to me about heirs will be introduced to my command of sun charms."

"Well, you did bring a child with you sire."

"Yes, I did. This is Amara, and he _is_ human, but he also happens to be the child of probably the two most evil humans ever to disgrace magic. He's worth keeping an eye on."

The meeting dragged on a little while longer, with lots of questions Vlad answered in short, clipped sentences. Eventually, and surprisingly, Harry was addressed directly.

"I assume you take on the female role in the relationship? Since you are carrying the child."

He threw Vlad a sideways _"seriously?" _look, got a half-smile in return but he could see Vlad found it as ridiculous as he did.

"Uh, no, not really. There is no female. We're both guys."

And if anything, by their archaic, misogynistic standards, _Vlad _was the 'female' since he preferred to bottom. It was still ridiculous, there was nothing 'female' about their relationship nor either of their roles in it.

"Hmph. When do you plan on growing up and taking some responsibility?"

"When I'm eighteen, obviously. I have stuff to do. You know about Harry, and also know there is _nothing_ you can do about him. If there's nothing else? I have other places to be."

They tried to cling to the meeting a little while longer, but eventually they got let go. Vlad took them outside the building before they popped out, landing back in the UK with barely a flicker of the outside world. Harry could _feel _the magic in the air, concentrated around one particular house and all feeling very much like Vlad's handiwork.

Before he even had the chance to knock, the door flew open, Harry laughing to himself as Vlad was hugged tight by his mother. There was lots of murmurs like "I was so worried", "where have you _been_?" and "my son" before a more energetic voice joined them, Vlad's younger sister joining the huddle. It took a few minutes for them to notice Harry at all, and then there was curiousity for Amara too.

"Let's talk inside?"

"Oh, of course! Come on in! Nice to see you again Harry."

They went in, Harry spotting the spellwork everywhere - the security was probably not so necessary now, but Vlad's command of it was still a work of magical _art, _really.

"How'd you know we were coming?"

Vlad hadn't mentioned telling them himself, and Harry hadn't seen him send any missives.

"Ingrid told me, she's the one who checked in on us while everything was dangerous. We have one of those two way books."

"Oh. Sounds about right. So, how have you two been?"

"Never mind that, who's _this_?"

Vlad's mother gestured to Amara, who was looking up at Harry for explanations of the new people.

"Oh, yeah. Mum, George, meet Amara. He's our son."

George blinked, looking between them.

"It hasn't been _that _long since we saw you!"

"Yes, well, he's adopted. And human. He's Riddle and Lestrange's child, but they're both where they belong now and, given his parentage, he needs protecting." Vlad held his arms out to Amara, who reached back happily and went to Vlad's lap with a smile "Amara, this is my mum, and my sister George. Want to say hi?"

"Hi!"

Only a part of the magical world through association of her magical children, Sally still understood the names, the threat of the parents.

"And he's... safe?"

Vlad frowned.

"Well, my father is _Count Dracula_ and I happen to think I'm quite safe. So long as Harry's around."

He'd definitely been safer before the full merge, but Harry kept him in check and was happy to do so. Sally hmmed, watching as Amara balanced himself precariously on his feet in Vlad's lap to peer around.

"Oh, yes, of course. I just want to be sure, since if he's your son now he'll be around George."

"I promise, he's fine. I'm not saying _we_ aren't going to keep an eye on him, but he deserves the chance to grow up without feeling like everyone is waiting for him to explode. Not everyone knows who his parents were, and we got him away before anything could be done to him. He throws tantrums over baths and loves mashed bananas, his milestones are on par with a normal human child and really, _look_ at him."

When he smiled, with his few teeth and bright eyes, Amara really did have a knack for charming people. Harry didn't miss how Vlad omitted things like their discussion earlier about Amara's early show of magic, but he understood not wanting to overload Sally. They moved on to talking about Vlad's disappearance after the battle, needing to recover and very quickly glossing over the whole 'getting staked' bit to move on to the phoenix powers after, and the trouble with his mind, his memories, his reflections.

"That must have been rough on you Harry."

"Yeah, it was. But I knew Vlad was in there, and I was prepared to drag him back out. And I'd do it all over again."

Vlad offered Harry a soft smile, reached to squeeze his hand with the arm not wrapped around Amara, napping against his chest and sucking his thumb.

"Thank you."

Harry squeezed back.

"Any time."

They looked back to the humans again after a minute of observing each other.

"So, what's next?"

"Headmistress McGonogall extends her invitation to return to Hogwarts. With the mess of last year, there's obviously a lot to put right, and anyone who had to leave for their safety is allowed to re-take the whole year, but there's also options for summer tutelage and exams. It means a lot of people of age for their final year, which should be fun for them to figure out. You'll be getting a letter by owl soon to explain your options, so I should fix the warding around here."

They stayed to catch up as much as they could, but it was getting late and they could come back more freely now everything was safe again. As they stood to leave, Sally placed a hand on Vlad's arm.

"It's... over now, yes?"

"The war? As good as. Have we exterminated every blood purity snob? No. But Harry and I are immortal, we're happy to keep cleaning up that mess. But Hogwarts is safe again, and the black cloud that hung over magic has lifted. I'm just playing catch up after having to recover. We'll come see you again soon, and definitely before we leave if we don't decide to sit our NEWTs."

George's head snapped up, confusion on her face as she looked to her brother.

"Leave? Where are you going?"

"To find the dragon mother."

-YDHP-

**Well, I think the boys are all caught up with everyone! Busy bees they are, especially now they're dads!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Whenever I look back on this story, I'm amazed it's lasted so long. Seventh year of shenanigans with two immortal disasters who always find their way into trouble... it's ****_awesome, _****really. Thank you to everyone who's been here from the start, and to all those who joined us along the way.**

**(It's not over, I'm just feeling really appreciative.)**

-YDHP-

"Is that charm safe to perform on Amara? He's only little."

Vlad asked Harry, who relayed the question to Samael. He promised the spell would do no harm, and so Harry performed it on their son, the magic seeming to take hold. To be safe, they showed him Samael through a barrier first, but the Basilisk eyes did not turn the boy to stone.

As part of their family now, Amara had to get used to part-serpent Harry's affinity for snakes. With Vlad's possible connection to dragons, it seemed they were just made for scaly friends.

"Lily, Nagini, Samael. This is Amara. He's my son."

"Not of your bloodline."

Lily hissed, winding her growing body up around Harry's until she could lie along his shoulders, tongue flicking out to taste Amara's scent. Nagini knew of Amara and had been around when he was born, but they were a very different unit to that mess in the old Evil HQ, and now things were a little calmer before they went back out on the road, as it were, Harry wanted to ensure those who would be living together knew who was who.

Amara blinked and gnawed on his finger, big green eyes flicking between the different snakes.

"No, not of my bloodline. Well, not directly. We didn't make him ourselves. We adopted him."

Harry hissed back to Lily, who seemed to take his explanation at face value.

"So I can't eat him?"

"No."

Hissing dramatically, Lily slithered down before making her way to the 'outside' bit, where she could sun her scales at will. Nagini had little opinion either way so long as Amara didn't stick his hands in her mouth - her venom had been milked many times while under Riddle's ownership, so neither Harry or Vlad blamed her for not wanting to be touched that way again.

Samael was slightly more tolerant at Harry's behest, allowing Amara to touch his scaled head to help him get used to the sheer size of him, rather than worry Amara would be afraid of Harry's very large friend.

"I know you didn't sign up for being manhandled by an infant, but I want him to be used to you before I risk transforming anywhere near him."

Harry ached to be free again, but Amara was their responsbility now - a little waiting with itchy scales was just one of those things he'd have to deal with when his son needed attention.

"I understand. I do not enjoy this."

"I know, I'm sorry. And thank you for being patient."

Satisfied he wasn't about to start screaming over snakes, Vlad took Amara back up out of the trunk and left Harry alone with his fellow snakes for a minute. He resisted the urge to transform, knowing he wouldn't want to change back, but he took the affectionate head rubs from each of them and repaid them with gentle strokes over their heads.

"I know I promised we'd settle when evil was done, but this trip is important to Vlad and once he turns eighteen, we can't just go roaming at will."

"Your mate has needs. We understand."

Lingering down there just a few minutes longer, Harry reluctantly pulled himself away and promised to visit with food soon in the next day or so, when they'd figured out what they were doing.

Vlad was sat in a chair when Harry climbed out, smiling at Amara sat on his lap playing happily with a toy.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah. I promised Narcissa we'd visit with Amara before we go, but I also promised mom we'd see her too, and Draco wants us all to have a get together which I think is him wanting lots of backup for being around _his _mother, and so I'm setting a date for three days time for us to go. We can pop back whenever we need to, and with any luck we won't be gone too long."

"Do you know _where _we're going?"

Vlad shrugged as best he could without dislodging Amara.

"Sort of. I've done some reading, which wasn't easy, there isn't much down on these old tales but thats probably vampire doing. I sort of know where to start, but we have to go on foot for a while to look around, don't want to draw attention to ourselves or those who protect the mother might see us as a threat and hide from us."

"Makes sense. I could do with stretching my legs."

"I made us both baby carrier things for Amara."

"Baby carriers? You mean a papoose?"

"That's the one, couldn't think of the word. I doubt we'd find one in any store that would fit you, and I don't want to worry there's something in the material that'll irritate me or smell weird. He's almost walking but we don't exactly want him going roaming."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Obviously. Reckon we'll have issues looking like a gay couple?"

"Nah. If anyone starts complaining, I'll leave them a better person than I found them."

"I thought you didn't bite."

Vlad snorted.

"Funny. I meant I'd hypnotise them into forgetting they hate _those sorts, _as old vamps call it. But nice to know you think of vampires as better people than homophobes."

"I'm mated to a gay vampire, what do you expect?"

Leaning down to kiss said vampire, Harry shared his mates smile. Amara giggled.

"Wow, I really never imagined everything coming up to this."

"To... what?"

"This. We won the fight. We have a kid. Everyone knows about us and all the people who's opinion matters support us. I have a family. The boy you met on the train never imagined all that."

Vlad nodded, brushing loose hairs out of Amara's face.

"Yeah. I remember realising you were my mate. I never thought you'd return it, knew it wasn't always reciprocated. I never... well, I _imagined _it, but never imagined it would come true. I'm so lucky."

"I feel pretty damn lucky too. And grateful we could save Amara. And Narcissa. You took a leap there."

"Yeah... but it turned out to be a good one. Just like you wanting to save Nagini, or trust Samael. We've both had to have faith in a good outcome, and trust each others gut instinct. And so far, we've never steered each other wrong."

* * *

_I have a family._

Harry's words rang in his head as Vlad watched him with said family. Oh, he was part of it too, he knew, but watching Harry look so happy and at ease was definitely Vlad's favourite pasttime. He had Raven and Amara in his arms, one held in each of the muscular limbs. Bertrand stood at Vlad's side, watching them quietly too.

"She's like you."

"Dimidius, I know. I promise by the time she's old enough for that to matter, I'll make sure she's safe to exist in peace."

"I appreciate that."

"She's Harry's little sister, what sort of mate I would be if I didn't protect her?"

He saw the necklace she still wore, laid with runes and his own magic.

"You did that already. We agreed to leave the necklace on. You never know when protection might be necessary. We can't keep her locked away inside forever, and she grows ever older and more curious."

"But Severus doesn't want questions asked about her parentage?"

Bertrand nodded.

"Indeed."

"So say she's yours. She looks more like you than him, and you don't want anyone twigging she's Dimidius yet as is. Glamour charms can hide any features that scream Severus for now, and the VHC make allowances for dating breathers if you intend on turning them. A little stalling until I take over and you and your family are safe, free. I swear. It's the least I can do, you helped me a lot through these last few years. And, indirectly, you're basically a parent to Harry now. Which makes us family."

Ducking his head, Bertrand shrugged awkwardly, old habits of ceremony fighting against the comfort that had grown over the years.

"Not something one expects to hear from their... boss."

"I'm not your boss yet. And if you _call _me that when I am, I will hex you."

"Understood."

Finally, Bertrand laughed, mock-toasting their conversation by raising his glass - complete with lid, so nobody could see the blood that sloshed against the sides of it. Everyone _knew, _but at a group get together, the handful of vampires in attendance didn't want to risk throwing blood all over a guest. Though Vlad had had soya blood earlier, and was currently nursing a cup of tea, so really only Ingrid and Bertrand were on the red stuff.

Ingrid would never transition to soya unless it tasted identical to the real deal, Vlad knew. But that was true of many vampires. He reckoned it was possible in the future, adding it to the _long_ to do list he had. At least he had all of eternity to fill. As did Harry.

He was pleased to see Narcissa and Draco getting along better, though he could _feel _the residual awkwardness from across the room. Draco had opted to keep the Malfoy name, but wholly intended to completely change what it stood for and Vlad had total confidence in him for it. He also got the feeling Draco would get a kick out of offering Hermione, a _Muggle born, _the title of Lady Malfoy down the line. They weren't engaged yet, but Vlad sensed it wasn't going to be long before announcements were made.

He frowned when he saw Hermione picking something up, crossing over the room and trying to be discreet about taking her to one side.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you."

"Why? Did the twins put something in it?"

"No. It's alcoholic."

Her eyes widened seconds later, looking down at her abdomen and back up again.

"What, are you serious?"

"Completely. I had a feeling you didn't know yet, there should be something on your bed waiting."

Blinking rapidly, Hermione excused herself to the bathroom and vanished. Draco threw Vlad a confused look, but he kept his face serene - Hermione could tell him. Hellfire, they could all do with some good news.

Not five minutes later, a house-elf came and retrieved Draco, leaving Vlad hiding a grin in his drink and watching Sirius, Remus and Tonks all act utterly oblivious to each other. He got the feeling _that _was a matter of time too, but it was not his business.

"Everyone!"

Vlad winced. He wasn't the only one.

"Ah! Easy on the bat hearing Draco."

"Ooops. Sorry. Excited! I have news!" there were a few seconds pause, and Vlad saw Draco decide to continue rather than give more time for the Weasleys to come up with increasingly ridiculous possibilities "Hermione's pregnant!"

The cheer that erupted was far harsher on his hearing, but at least it was over soon and he could back away from the enthusiastic chatter as everyone congratulated the young couple. Harry left Vlad with Amara, who was starting to grow sleepy after all the excitement, heading over to congratulate his brother happily.

"I'm gonna take him up for a nap, ok?"

Understanding the noise and heightened emotions were wearing on Vlad, Harry nodded, gave him a reassuring smile.

"Sure."

Amara was out as soon as his head hit the pillow, and Vlad stretched out on the adult bed to enjoy the quieter atmosphere. He was thrilled for them, naturally, remembering the reticence back when Draco was cursed, and subsequently cured of his lycanthropy. It was wonderful to see everyones lives beginning to move on past the war and the fear, trauma giving way to celebration.

"Did you know?"

Harry asked as he entered the room, voice soft so as not to disturb their sleeping son.

"Yeah. Pregnancy _reeks, _it's a built in deterrent to stop us destroying our food source when it's replenishing."

"Lovely. How come Bertrand and Ingrid didn't notice?"

"They may well have done and decided it wasn't for them to mention, or maybe they weren't looking. They drink human, so they probably try to avoid sniffing at breathers too often. I'm still working on lowering my constant sensitivity."

The cycle of visits, letting Amara and Narcissa have their time together and having dinner with his mother and sister... they'd done it all before, but after they left people would begin going back to their lives, to Hogwarts and jobs and in some cases, tutoring or training.

"Wait! Before you guys go, the paperwork just came through on this."

Harry was saying goodbye to Raven before Severus and Bertrand headed back to their own home, Malfoy Manor still where everyones portkeys landed and so it was a natural point to convene. Draco all but ran over to where Vlad was doing final checks on his bag with Amara strapped to his back.

"Came through on what?"

"Deeds. I put this place in Harry's name, so you guys have... a home of your own. It's not too huge, but it has decent size private grounds and a good sized basement. Given your pets and your vampirism, I figured it was ideal for you guys."

Draco held out the papers, showing that he had indeed signed over a place at the very top of Scotland, where sunshine wasn't common but neither was a heavy population density.

"Wow. You didn't have to do this."

"I signed over everything but this place and the castle Severus and Bertrand live in to my mom. She gave everything but where she lives in Paris and a little cottage in Italy back. Her favourites. I have more property than I will ever need. I want to give you guys somewhere to call _home. _You'll always have here, obviously, but this would be private, and you could let Samael _out _and be safe."

Harry hugged his brother a little too tight, Draco grunting with the strength of it.

"Sorry. Used to Vlad, he can handle it."

"I'll bet" Draco coughed, but smiled "but I like the enthusiasm. This is the customary portkey provided with new deeds to take you there. You don't have to move in right away, but its yours and its been cleaned. Do as you please, when you're done with the whole... dragon hunt."

"Wow. Thank you. We better drop by so I can get a feel for it, then I'll be able to apparate in and out. But first, we shall say farewell for now or we'll never get going!"

After many goodbye hugs, and promises to update and be safe, Harry and Vlad stood side by side, Amara held close. They both placed hands on the portkey, and with the activation word, they were carried away to what he supposed was their new home.

-YDHP-

**I kept thinking I was done with this part and then remembering a loose end here or thing there that needed putting in, but I'm on track at last, wooo!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Do you ever watch the first Harry Potter movie in disbelief that they were ever that young?**

-YDHP-

"It's easy to forget Draco has a skewed concept of 'not too big'."

"Didn't you grow up in castles?"

Vlad shrugged.

"We've lived in a tent and one room for a while, and I never really liked the castles I grew up in. Plus, this is meant to be like, a quiet private home. Do we really need ten bedrooms?"

Harry nodded.

"With the size of _our _family? Yes."

Vlad tilted his head.

"Alright, fair point. I'm gonna do a speed run around, see what will need doing to make it secure. Why not go check out the grounds, see how they'll suit Samael?"

Harry agreed, holding Amara to his chest as he went in search of the exit. He found the front door, looked around and saw he could make it to the back around the side and went that way. Thick trees were visible in the distance, fencing off what was really a garden the size of a Quidditch pitch. Draco really had undersold the place, but Harry could already see it was plenty big enough for Samael to stretch his scales.

Magic rippled through the air, and when Harry looked up he could see the faint glow of Vlad's spellwork weaving its way like a giant net from the roof to the edge of the treeline. Vlad stepped out with no issues, so Harry banked on it being some kind of protective measure for the vampire to avoid the sun.

"Well?"

"There's three bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, and two more bathrooms for the other seven bedrooms. Plus a downstairs toilet. The basement is pretty sizeable too, I could fix half of it up into vampire-friendly accomodation and still have space for... I dunno, an indoor pool. Not that we need one, since I saw a pretty big lake right past the trees. Maybe soy blood storage."

Vlad walked them around, showed Harry the Potions lab that was visibly used but in good shape. They let Amara pick out his own room, not that the boy would really understand any of it and, given their living style so far, Harry was prepared for some seperation-anxiety issues when it came to him sleeping alone. Vlad did up the wards so he felt assured enough that nobody would be able to get in and lay traps for when they were free to come back, and Harry charmed the bedroom they chose to look more familiar so it would be waiting, ready when they returned.

"Home sweet home?"

"It'll take some getting used to when we're done. Are we stopping for a nap?"

For a second, Harry thought Vlad meant _them, _then realised he meant Amara.

"Nah, he's alright. He can nap on the move anyway. Anything else?"

Vlad shook his head, asked if either he or Amara needed the bathroom, and then they were getting ready to leave. Hopefully, it was the last lengthy trip they'd need to make, and Amara (and _they_) could start to get some stability in their lives.

Vampiric political future notwithstanding.

Amara strapped securely in to his holder against Harry's chest, Vlad took his hand and cast Notice-Me-Not charms over them all. They popped out of their new home, and Harry felt the abrupt shift in temperature as they landed... somewhere. Amara wriggled, unsettled by the change but Harry felt magic wrap around the boy like an invisible blanket as Vlad cast a warming charm on him.

"Where are we?"

"Oslo, Norway."

"_Norway?_"

Vlad nodded, looking around them. The charm was holding, and nobody walking the path next to the field they were on seemed to have noticed them appear from nowhere.

"Yeah. Best guess is basically the other end of Scandinavia, but like I said, we can't use too much magic nearby or the mothers guardians will sense us and hide. Norway has a reputation for being pretty neutral, and they don't see a lot of biters up here so I'm _hoping_ no slayers."

With Vlad outed as a vampire and pictures plastered over a lot of walls when they were 'on the run' before, he was an easily recognisable target, but he didn't really like wearing disguising magic if he could help it as it 'itched', and he already got irritation from wearing the protective magic that stopped him exploding in the sun.

"So we're basically going on a really long tour of Norway."

"Yeah. It might take us a month, maybe longer if we go tourist about it, but this is the last time we'll ever have to just _do _this, really."

Well, he wasn't wrong.

"Aren't we still under the Trace out here?"

The buildings they inhabited before had been warded to prevent any notice of magic by the Trace, but out in the open and still underage, Harry was curious.

"Yes and no. Yes, we should be, but no, we aren't. I may or may not have hypnotised someone into taking them off us, based on needing to defend ourselves from any leftover Death Eaters."

Harry snorted. That sounded about right for Vlad. It wasn't long until Harry turned seventeen anyway and the Trace would have broken then, but based on how the magic of it worked, the Trace could have picked up Vlad's magic too.

"Are we going back for my birthday?"

"I don't know yet, it depends how close we are and whether it would be safe to apparate back there. Oslo might have been a little overly cautious, but since this is a trip based almost entirely on hunches, I figured we could sight see too. We'll be back before Hogwarts term starts again, definitely. So, at worst, you get a late birthday party but I doubt that will slow down anybody."

Harry nodded, stroking Amara's messy curls as Vlad took down their notice-me-nots, so nobody would walk into them. A few blinked as the three seemed to appear from nowhere, but it was only seconds before everyone who noticed had gone past and Vlad was planning their route.

"So, north?"

"Yeah. If you want, we can do local food and hit a museum or something along the way."

Both imbued with strength and stamina by their not-quite-human physiology, distance wouldn't be an issue. And Vlad could probably flit them along much faster, but there was no telling if that would be detected by those protecting the dragon mother. Plus, Vlad was right; they may never have this sort of time again, at least with no other responsibilities to call them back.

"We should go somewhere to eat, definitely. If nothing else, I'm gonna need a public bathroom to change Amara in at some point. Which will be _so_ fun if the baby change is in the ladies. Do you have a baby bag for him?"

"Yeah, of course. No point lugging it while we're walking though."

They continued on, taking in the new country. The weather was mild, though noticeably cooler than it had been in the previous country. Vlad mentioned he'd memorised maps for the trip, and Hermione had suggested they get a Muggle smartphone; they weren't brilliant, magic didn't totally agree with them but it did mean Vlad could access the internet anywhere they were, and also because it had a _digital _camera, they could take photos. Even of Vlad.

Amara started fussing after a couple of hours, bored of not being able to move around much and getting hungry. Vlad found them a family-friendly diner, looking amusingly awkward as he tried to subtly let the server know about his 'garlic allergy' without rolling his eyes when he clearly saw vampire jokes in the womans mind. She was also quite surprised by the quantity of food Harry ordered - his metabolism was demanding, after all.

"Is the baby changing in the womens?"

"No, we have a seperate spot for it. Next to the ladies, but you're fine to go in."

Thanking her, Harry was relieved as Vlad slipped him his backpack, which Harry was able to locate the bigger baby bag inside of when the door was closed behind him. Amara wriggled, pent-up energy making him disgruntled. Thankfully, the diner had things for children to play with, so Amara bashed some stuffed toys against the tray of his high chair while Vlad ate his beef burger and Harry ate pretty much one of everything.

"That was quite funny, I forgot how strangers respond to you eating like that."

"Well, I can hardly change forms and go hunting wildlife now can I? Not without drawing attention to us, anyway."

Vlad snorted, watching Amara roll around on a blanket in the grass outside for a bit, with a hope he'd take a nap for the next stretch of walking.

"Oh, aren't you sweet?"

Translation charms made everyones speech a little slower, but it was clear the lady was talking to Amara. Amara wasn't quite sure what to make of the stranger, much as she wasn't quite sure what to make of Vlad and Harry.

"Is he yours?"

"Yeah, he's our son."

"What's his name?"

"Amara. I'm Romanian."

Vlad added on, in the hopes they wouldn't be quizzed on the boys unique name. They'd opted not to change it, though they did discuss it for a minute given who gave it to him. But Amara already answered to his name, and they weren't about to push a whole new identity on him. A name meaning death wasn't exactly unfitting for the son of Harry with his Hallows, and Vladimir Dracula the super-duper vampire.

"You look awfully young to have a son."

"I hear that a lot, I come from a long line of baby faces."

Harry looked older than Vlad, simply because of the size of him and the way his body had so much bulk and angles, though Vlad was a touch taller than him and probably always would be unless the Basilisk genes gave him a length spurt as well a breadth one. It seemed increasingly unlikely, but Harry didn't mind. He was _hoping_ not to grow out of all his clothes again anyway.

"Well, enjoy your day boys."

Vlad relaxed when their new, nosy friend vanished, but with Amara's adorable curls and bright eyes, Harry wouldn't be surprised if he continued to charm more strangers, flashing sweet gap-toothed smiles up at Vlad and Harry when they leant over to check on him.

"Come on little man, we'll let you burn off all your energy when we stop for the night. Shame nowhere is open at night, or we could travel by night and avoid a lot of people."

Amara napped for the next leg of their walk, and they opted to set up the tent (charmed hidden, naturally) near a museum they could visit the next day before they continued on. Harry felt a sense of homeliness when they got back in the tent, Amara set up in a playpen to roll around to his hearts content and play with his toys again while Vlad pulled soya blood out of the fridge and drank deeply.

"Better?"

"Much. I'm gonna have to get a travel bottle for this."

It was awfully quiet in there without Narcissa, and Harry actually sat down before realising he had to make his own tea, surprisingly used to being... mothered? He supposed, by Narcissa. He was definitely going to miss her constantly baking away.

They gave Amara a bath before putting him down for the night to sleep, and by then Harry was starting to feel the day himself. Vlad downed a little more blood, checked the warding on the tent, and then he and Harry retired to bed with shared yawns.

Whether it was being in Norway, or whether it was entirely random, for the first time in a long time, as Harry drifted to sleep he fell into dreams that weren't his own again.

-YDHP-

**Finally got this finished! Had such bad writers block with this story lately, but getting there.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I ****_swear _****I didn't realise it had been over a month, but I had a really bad mental health dip and then Frozen 2 happened...**

-YDHP-

Harry jerked and twisted next to him, thrashed and shouted and Vlad was up in a flash, looking for the threat to his mate before he realised Harry was actually dreaming. Or possibly having a nightmare, but there was no sense of panic along their bond to be felt like nightmares often did.

"Harry!"

Vlad shook him, and his mate jerked awake with a slightly-adorable snort, looking around the darkened room in confusion.

"What?"

"You were... pretty active. Interesting dream?"

Blinking, Harry rubbed his eyes and laid back down, reaching for Vlad.

"Remember those weird dreams I used to have, back when I was first bitten by Samael? It was like that."

Vlad nodded slowly as Harry wrapped his arms around him, soaking in the warmth of his mates skin against his own - Harry was more cold blooded than human counterparts, but Vlad was technically dead, so to him, Harry was warm.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Later. Still sleepy."

Minutes later, Harry was fast asleep. Still a bit concerned, Vlad struggled to drift off, but managed eventually... just in time for Amara to wake up, because apparently he'd napped too much in the day to sleep through the night. Groaning, Vlad told Harry he could stay asleep and got up to tend to their child. Amara was perfectly content to just snuggle in Vlad's lap, wide awake but quiet so Vlad did some reading to pass the time.

"Come back to beeeed."

Harry huffed, knowing Vlad would hear him from the next room over. Rolling his eyes indulgently, Vlad peered down at Amara and figured if all he wanted was attention, he'd probably settle in their bed. Sure enough, Amara was quite content to just lie there next to Vlad, and Harry spooned himself against his back before falling asleep. Putting a small magical barrier along the side of the bed so Amara couldn't roll (or climb) off, Vlad did his best to get some sleep.

Because children were awkward, Amara was tired and grumpy come morning and grizzled his way through their breakfast routine, but was calmed down and happy by the time they left their tent to get some fresh air before they visited the museum. Harry said he'd forgotten what his dream was about, and Vlad had no cause to doubt him but some residual curiousity about what it might have been that had his mate so active in the night.

The museum was nice, and Vlad definitely appreciated the time spent just having fun and sight seeing, doing his best not to ponder what would come in the future.

"So, onwards?"

"We might as well get lunch here before we move on, then we can basically go until evening."

They got their lunch and Amara's gappy smile had the waitress cooing and sneaking him extra chocolate pudding, which only made his sweet smile widen. And thankfully, the resulting sugar crash that came after meant Amara napped for a great deal of their six hours walking.

"I wonder if we find this thing, whether she'll understand me?"

Peering over Amara's curls at Harry, Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it worked in Gringotts."

He had to think for a minute to decode Harry's guarded words, but eventually realised Harry meant using Parselmouth to talk to dragons, as he had back when they helped Draco sort out the Malfoy vaults, and whether or not that might work on the mother of all dragons.

"Hmm. I don't know. I imagine she understands most humans to an extent, but whether or not all of them understand that or not remains to be seen."

Harry chewed on his words - and a packet of to-go meat snacks they'd picked up earlier - as they searched for somewhere to set up camp that evening. Finding a patch of empty park, the warding allowed them to set up without being worried they'd be noticed and told to move on by the horrid types who chased off homeless people. He felt guilty they could go so unnoticed, that they had somewhere to go when it was over.

"Make sure he gets some walking done, I don't want him falling behind developmentally cus we have to carry him so much."

Harry nodded while Vlad went to drink his blood, then moved around the kitchen of their tent-home to make dinner for his mate and their son. As he stirred a bubbling pot, Vlad sighed to himself.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just wondering what happens if I'm wrong? Are we wasting weeks out here?"

"Hey" Harry shuffled over, Amara toddling between his legs thanks to Harry holding his little hands for support "we're not wasting anything. I cannot _tell_ you what this break means after the years we've had. Say you are wrong. So what? We spent a few weeks sightseeing with our son, and I don't consider that a waste of time. Amara's getting fresh air and getting used to muggles and strangers who don't run the risk of throwing evil curses, which I personally think is good for him. And honestly, I don't think you're wrong about the dragon mother."

Lowering the heat, Vlad turned to see Harry lifting Amara, who had plonked on his butt and refused to move himself.

"You don't?"

Harry shook his head, smiling as he ruffled Amara's hair.

"You haven't been wrong yet."

* * *

It was somewhat inevitable, especially when they were a little... _limited _in alone time, now they were solely responsible for Amara. They couldn't just leave him any old place, after all, with his periodic accidental magic and status as the biological child of a recently defeated dark lord.

But when Vlad's control was starting to slip, there was little for it other than to figure something out given their usual technique for dealing with it, and the need for Vlad to not go on a murderous rampage in the middle of a street full of Muggles (or anywhere, really). Luckily, Amara got himself all tired out running around down in Samael's 'outdoor' spot when Harry went down to visit his serpentine kin while Vlad was meditating - he didn't want to be exclusively reliant on Harry for his own self-control, trying to get himself there alone but Harry was going to offer anyway. Vlad wasn't good at resisting Harry any time, let alone when he _really_ _needed _him.

Amara fell asleep before his head hit the pillow, though he had just enough energy to demand a proper snuggle from Harry first. Tucking him in with a smile, Harry swelled with love for the small boy; he'd worried he would struggle, but when he looked at Amara now all he saw was a little boy who needed love and care Harry was only too happy to provide.

Although right now, he had another, equally wonderful service to provide for Vlad.

When Harry entered their room the vampire was meditating, legs crossed as he sat in the centre of their bed. Well, he probably was before. Now he was hovering a few inches above it, and several objects around the room were also floating, the air seeming to audibly hum with Vlad's power in the air. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up, feeling a pleasant sort of shudder in his belly at the casual reminder of Vlad's power, his strength.

Harry guessed the sudden surge of arousal stirred Vlad more than Harry's mere presence, judging by the low growl the vampire let out as he dropped back to the bed, floating objects placing themselves down gently before Harry was the centre of a hunters focus. Vlad prowled, dancing the line between his soft side and his feral side. Harry felt fangs when they kissed, and the impatience was clear when Vlad used magic to remove their clothes, groaning when Harry's skin was pressed against his own.

He could see the tension in Vlad's muscles, felt sure his boyfriend had been playing down how bad the struggle was getting for him. It wasn't often Harry could say sex was imperative, but he wasn't complaining. Vlad growled again when Harry rocked his hips, cock hardening against the vampires cold muscled stomach. His own teeth tingled lightly, glad his venom couldn't hurt Vlad that way as he bit down on his throat, marking Vlad again, staking a claim that seemed to soothe the beast inside a little. Vlad whined needily, opening his legs so Harry dropped between them in clear invitation.

His fingers found Vlad already slick and relaxed, but Harry drew it out anyway and lazily worked his fingers back and forth, other hand pressing on Vlad's shoulder in a sign to stay there and let him work the vampire up into a frenzy. It wasn't something he'd recommend to most, but Harry knew how safe he was with Vlad, and how far he could push.

And he wanted Vlad close to breaking point, wanted him to convulse in ecstacy and go to pieces under Harry's touch. Of course, even Harry couldn't hold out forever. Vlad's hand clutched the bed beneath as Harry filled him, head twisting to the side to bare his bitten throat covered in little shiny scars, barely visible but definitely _there _from all the times Harry had bitten him before. Vlad could heal them away if he wanted, but he chose to bear Harry's marks with pride.

Harry could practically _see _the tension leech out of Vlad, feel the raging magic inside him begin to calm. Vlad's dark eyes softened, gazing at Harry lovingly until he couldn't keep them open against the steady pressure of insistent thrusts, panting and moaning and arching his hips up into Harry's. His cock rubbed up against Harry's stomach, wet and sticky with precum and Harry thrilled in being able to affect Vlad quite so much. Vlad wound arms around Harry's shoulders, sought his bloodied mouth and kissed him hard before he fell back, twitching and tightening in that oh so familiar way.

Vlad broke beautifully under him, bucking and barely managing to muffle his moans as he buried his face in Harry's neck, fangs scraping before sinking in. The potent rush of painful pleasure that _only _came from Vlad's bite washed over Harry and took him over the edge alongside Vlad, heart the quickest it ever beat as they trembled in each others hold.

It took a minute for Vlad to let him go, tongue sliding over the marks in his neck to heal them closed before he dropped back against the bed, clearly far more at peace than he had been before and smiling softly, eyes full of love.

"Thanks."

"Any time."

They shared a chuckle, lazy cleaning spells dealing with the worst of the mess where Vlad had covered both their torsos and where Harry was slowly leaking out of him before the two embraced, Vlad laying his head over Harry's heart to listen to it calm back to its usual slow beat.

"If it's ever getting bad again, you need to tell me. Especially when we're out here pretending to be perfectly ordinary humans."

Vlad sighed, nodding as he burrowed deeper into Harry's hold.

"I know, but I can't just rely on you, I was seeing how much I could control it myself."

"You have all of eternity to figure that out, and you said vampire control gets better with time. So how about while we're on holiday, you just let me help?"

"I'll try."

Harry smiled, squeezing Vlad tighter. It was nice to not need to mind his strength with Vlad, who was even less breakable than Harry.

"We should go get a bath before Amara wakes up."

"Good plan."

Bathing with Vlad meant the water cooled much quicker, but it was worth it to soak his scale-like skin and cuddle Vlad at the same time. They were dry and dressed and Harry was snacking on a whole roast chicken before Amara actually woke, ready for attention and mashed bananas - the market selling fruit had found them very funny when Vlad insisted Amara really would eat _all_ of them.

Well, about half was probably going to end up in his hair, but same thing really. Done eating and cleaning up their mucky child, Harry looked over to Vlad.

"So, shall we keep going?"

"Sounds like a plan."

-YDHP-

**In return for patience, enjoy some family fluff times!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So... in the time since last update, I almost ended up homeless but luckily found somewhere, and subsequently moved house. Now I'm (hopefully) settled, shall we get on? :)**

**Some characters borrowed purely because I like them, the storyline was inspired independently and I brought the characters in later.**

-YDHP-

Vlad came to a stop, looking around and closing his eyes before he spoke softly to Harry.

"You feel that?"

"Nausea? Yes. _Why_ did I eat the lutefisk?"

Harry rubbed his stomach, groaning. His metabolism could handle pretty much any food, and he figured _when in Norway... _but he was regretting it. Even a part-basilisk's stomach struggled with such a bizarre foodstuffs. He should have stuck to the reindeer or elk steaks, but they'd been in Norway a few weeks now, and he thought he mightn't get another chance.

Vlad tsked.

"No. Just... try and feel what I feel."

Just cus _he _hadn't had lutefisk, claiming it smelled too strong for his delicate senses, and so Vlad didn't feel sick... Harry rolled his eyes, but stood still and closed his eyes, trying to _feel _around him.

It took a minute, but he did realise what Vlad was talking about. He'd probably have noticed sooner without thinking about his upset stomach, willing the venom that infused his body to dissolve it and shake off the sick feeling. His skin prickled, Harry feeling almost like his every single scale was tingling as soon as he opened himself up to the magic in the air.

"We're close."

"I think so. Keep sharp. It's possible they're ready to defend themselves, and her."

Harry nodded. It became more and more apparent with each step that they were approaching somewhere very, _very _magical. And something about it just felt _old, _like the very existence of the ambient magic was woven into the soil beneath their feet, like it flowed through the water of the nearby river. If Harry strained his hearing, he thought he could hear a waterfall in the distance. Vlad nodded, confirming he could sort of hear the same.

Amara seemed antsy too, shifting and huffing. Vlad could tell if he needed changing a mile away, and Harry probably at least half a mile away, so it wasn't that. They'd eaten recently enough. So either it was an impending toddler tantrum, or he had some sensitivity to the magic around them too.

"Stay quiet little guy. We don't want to upset anybody out here."

Vlad rubbed Amara's curls, soothing their son. Harry reached out to help, and Amara settled with a soft coo, fixing a loving gaze upon each of his fathers. He was such a sweet little boy. Sometimes Harry saw Vlad as a solid show of nature over nurture, but Amara made it clear that it wasn't so black and white.

He noticed when Vlad tensed up, and Harry didn't argue when the vampire handed Amara over, bringing the boy close to his chest as Vlad stepped in front of them.

_"What is it?"_

They didn't use it much - Vlad liked the sound of Harry's voice too much - but occasionally, the ability to silently communicate came in handy.

_"We have company. At least four... no, five._"

_"Human?"_

_"At least partly. I think... they're like wizards, but not. Interesting."_

Vlad straightened up a bit more, his eyes flicking around at things Harry couldn't see... except when he really, _really _looked, Harry realised he could see a shimmering in the air. Barely perceptible, but enough to say that _something_ was there. Something magical.

"We know you're there. You may as well come out, we're not here to fight."

Harry felt more than heard movement, minor vibrations in the ground beneath his feet as shimmers surrounded them before the cloaking magic faded.

"Well, that explains my struggling to get a read on you."

None of the five had spoken, but their appearance said plenty. Each was dressed in dragonhide, the armour so well moulded to their frames Harry almost thought they _had _scales themselves for a minute. All but one face was uncovered though, and those looked perfectly ordinary. Young, if anything, but given how much time Harry had spent around vampires he knew looks could be deceiving on that matter.

"What are you?"

The voice that came from behind the mask was strange, almost soft but not quite gentle.

"My name is Vlad. Vladimir Dracula. Sometimes vampire, sometimes phoenix. This is my mate, part human and part reptile himself. And that's our son Amara. All human, he's adopted. Now it's your turn."

The four unmasked ones blinked quite rapidly, as though trying to process the dumping of bizarre information on them. Vlad seemed quite calm, but Harry could feel his magic humming in the air, more attuned to Vlad's than anyone and certain the vampire was prepared to defend Harry and Amara at the first whiff of danger.

Harry hadn't missed that they seemed to speak English. Unless he was so used to translation charms he'd forgotten they were still speaking Norwegian... The four young looking ones looked to the masked one, suggesting a leader behind the dragonhide mask.

"_Drakul._"

"He's my grandfather. No. Great-grandfather. I think. Hard to keep track when you're basically immortal, but you'd know about that now wouldn't you?"

"Vlad?"

Harry asked, confused about the almost-accusation Vlad seemed to be levelling at the stranger.

"Well, unless these guys get out and collect Chocolate Frog cards, I don't see how _else _she'd know the name, or pronunciation for _Drakul._"

As soon as Vlad said it, Harry felt dense for not clicking. In his own defence, he was trying to keep a toddler calm and hoping they weren't about to be attacked.

"Clever."

"Sometimes. So... introductions? Or shall we get on with the fighting?"

The leader took one step forward. Vlad held his ground, though he had to tip his head back a bit to look up at the area their face would be - this stranger was _tall. _

"Why are you here?"

"Curiousity, mostly. I wanted to see if the stories were true about vampires and dragons having a common ancestry. And between your defensive stature and the interesting attire, I get the feeling we're on the right track."

Were all the people there immortal? It was hard to say, though Vlad seemed sure enough of their leader. Perhaps the Dragon Mother got tired of the turnover on her human guardians, and made one or two permanent fixtures. At the age she must have reached, Harry doubted she lacked some kind of unique magic.

The sound of scaled paws on solid ground met their ears, and they all turned toward it. Harry had just recognised them when the black blur leapt at Vlad, who let out a short giggle when his face was _licked _by the creature.

"Hey buddy! Long time no see. So this is where you've been hiding out huh?"

"You know this dragon?"

Vlad nodded, and the black dragon he'd helped back in Romania stood at his side, facing the other humans.

"Yeah. He was wounded and being cared for in a dragon reserve in Romania. I healed his tail. He's popped up once or twice to help me out in turn. He's how I found out I can sort of speak to dragons."

"You can?"

Vlad nodded, and Harry added on since they were apparently pretty open here.

"So can I. Sort of. They understand me. I don't get much back, but it has come in handy."

Slowly, as though watching for any hint of treachery all the while, the leader raised their hands and pulled off her mask. Harry hadn't known what he was expecting, but it wasn't someone with such soft, pretty features. Dark red hair and wide green eyes, bearing quite a resemblance to one of the younger dragon-wearers. Perhaps she was his mother. Harry did his best not to think of how she reminded him of his own mothers features just then; Vlad's focus shouldn't be split by Harry's wavering emotions.

"Why should I trust you?"

"I suppose you have no reason to, but I truly bear nobody ill will here. I'm coming up to a pretty permanent future in politics splitting my time between Romania and Scotland. I just wanted to use the last free time I had to take a holiday with my mate and our son, and sate my curiousity for this old tale. If there's something we can do to help put you at ease, then name it."

She nodded slowly, thoughtful and pensive.

"My name is Valka. You say you healed the dragon. How?"

"I mentioned I'm part phoenix. Phoenix tears have magical healing properties. I used my tears to heal him."

"Prove it."

The one Harry suspected was related to the leader stepped forward, teeth tight together as he challenged Vlad.

"Son, calm. They have shown no threat... yet. Can you prove it?"

"Sure, but one of you is gonna have to bleed a little. My injuries heal too fast on their own, and my mate is pretty hard to actually injure because of his reptile genes. Not that I could bring myself to hurt him anyway."

With absolutely no preamble, the son yanked up his sleeve and used what Harry recognised as a shed dragons tooth to cut his own skin. Vlad swallowed thickly, fighting the base urge of bloodlust before he pulled a small glass bowl from his pocket and transformed there and then, to some gasps of shock from the humans. Tears dripped into the bowl, Vlad returning to his usual height and shape before picking them up and pouring them over the cut. The cut sealed itself, blood on skin looking to have no source as not even a hint of a scar remained seconds later.

"Wow. Ok. Does that work on old injuries too?"

"It can, but you have to drink them for internal injuries and sometimes it takes a couple of doses to get everything."

'Valka', having watched the exchange quietly, turned back to Vlad.

"We have dragons that are sick, and we do not know why. Can you help them?"

"We can do our best. If phoenix tears alone aren't enough, Harry here is a potions whizz, and I can obtain preeeeetty much any ingredient ever. However, I want to know Amara will be safe before we go anywhere."

She nodded.

"Our dragons never hurt anybody who doesn't hurt them first."

"Alright. Let's go."

The waterfall Harry thought he heard came into view only a short walk later, Amara's curious face taking in all the strange new sights as they approached. Harry held him tighter to make sure he didn't get a chill - the water made the air around them chilly, and the little boy lacked either of his fathers resistence for the cold. There was an entrance hidden behind the water that they slipped in to, and a fresh wave of magic washed over all of them, soaking their skin in the most perfectly comfortable warmth Harry had ever felt. Including all bubble baths he'd taken and any sunbathing he'd ever done.

"Oh wow. That's amazing. What is this place?"

"A sanctuary. That entrance will not appear for anyone the magic here doesn't trust."

It was beautiful there, lush green and covered with a bountiful crop of flowers and plants Harry had never seen before. Dragon dung must make for a good fertiliser, he guessed. They wound through two more stone arches and more and more plant life before they came to another dragon besides Vlad's jet black shadow.

"Is that an Antipodean Opaleye? I thought they were native to New Zealand. Isn't it a little cold up here for them?"

"There are different... spots, here. Each a different temperature to suit the various needs. And species can be a little difficult to determine, as the breeds have comingled over the centuries. I call her Diamond."

Her son leaned in, a wry grin on his face.

"She gives them all silly names."

"I do not!"

Valka protested, but she too was smiling. They passed 'Diamond' with no issue, and she returned to curling up on the ground to resume a nap they'd interrupted. It was clear they'd set up something a bit like the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, so he guessed this was where the sick dragons were. A few more humans milled about, tending to them, but paid the new people no mind other than a curious glance.

"Ok. So, where are the ones you need help with?"

"Back here. Whatever they have seems to be catching, so we isolated them."

Harry recognised the dragons himself when they entered the isolation area, most of them Peruvian Vipertooths. Magic shimmered around each one, trying to isolate the condition that they were spreading. Their scales were mottled in places, scales unnaturally bumpy in others.

"Any ideas?"

Vlad nodded, eyes turning from dragons to dragon-watchers.

"Two. One much more likely than the other, but I have several questions first. How old are you, and do you have anyone who joined you quite soon before this started?"

"I lost count a long time ago."

"Do you know what Hogwarts is?"

Valka's brow furrowed in thought.

"A school. A couple of the people here have attended, but it was in its infancy when I was a girl, and I was born far away from here."

"So you're edging a millenia. Have you spent most of your life here?"

"Yes. Where are you going with this?"

"Bear with me. Anyone new?"

"Only one in the last five years."

"And where were they from?"

"South America."

Vlad nodded, mostly to himself, before he headed over to the nearest dragon. Harry heard his mate hiss, but being born a Parselmouth, he understood.

_"This might hurt a little, but it'll help me work out what's wrong with you."_

He scraped away a little of the mottled scales and blistered areas, and the Vipertooth whined and twitched but didn't try to maul him. Vlad straightened up started rooting through his backpack for Harry's Potions case, dropping his scale samples into a bottle of Dee Lites Diagnose-It solution.

"Yep, thought so. I know what's wrong with them."

-YDHP-

**Like, I could have made up dragon-loving people, but why bother when there's already amazing dragon people I can just borrow? **


	9. Chapter 9

**I had a tab on the HP wiki open for _so long _writing this chapter and last.**

-YDHP-

Prepared for looks of ridicule and bemusement, Vlad checked his results one more time, but he was confident.

"What's wrong with them?"

"They have Dragon Pox."

Harry did a double take.

"Can dragons even _get _Dragon Pox?"

"Ordinarily, I'd say no. But Peruvian Vipertooth dragons were the original source of the Dragon Pox infection. I think what's happened is there was a bunch of them up here, away from the others, and the virus that causes it mutated as viruses tend to, for a few hundred years. Then you get a new person, who's grown up in the area where Vipertooths still live, and they carried over the new, mutated sickness these dragons don't have the same immunity to. We see this in isolated human colonies too, they'd die if someone brought a flu virus over, because they never needed the immune system response."

Valka, the dragon-caring leader, looked to Vlad more urgently.

"Can you cure that?"

"Sort of. There is a cure for Dragon Pox, but it's not always effective. Draco's grandfather died of the pox, if I remember correctly, but it's still treated at St Mungos. I can make a trip and find out how to treat it from them, but I will need someone to let me back in outside."

"And what if that doesn't work?"

Vlad shrugged.

"Then we'll try my tears, and if that doesn't work, we'll figure out something. I promise, we'll help you."

"Why aren't we just using your magic tears now?"

Valka's son asked, frowning.

"Because they don't keep, and you might need to know how to treat this again in the future when I'm not here, so we'll try the traditional cure first?"

He nodded, drawing back. Vlad petted Amara gently, kissed his mate.

"Someone needs to be outside to let me in, I shouldn't be long. I have your word my mate and our son will be safe while I'm gone?"

He asked, and Valka nodded.

"Of course, but doesn't someone need to show you out first?"

Vlad shook his head.

"Nope."

And he popped out. Vlad wasn't thrilled to leave them behind, but he promised, and they were still keeping Amara out of the public eye where possible for the moment. It was dark in the streets of London. Well, as dark as it ever got in a city that never slept. He approached the entrance for St Mungos, convinced the dummy to let him in, and stepped through to the hospital.

He winced at the sterile smell mixed with the stench of sickness, stomach turning with the scents of blood and infection layered over each other. At least he could hold his breath well. The hideous uniforms of the Healers weren't much more pleasing to sensitive vampire eyes, nor were the chattering sounds of patients. And Vlad _felt_ the eyes on him, knowing how he and Harry had vanished from the public eye for weeks now, off on their jaunt through Norway.

The security guard on the stairs only ran the scan to see if Vlad was a vampire before letting him through - those guards were a measure put in when the war was escalating, to make sure nobody broke in to hurt people already wounded, but it seemed to still be serving some use.

"Why are you here?"

"Need to see a man about some pox. Not on me."

The ward that treated Dragon Pox was on the second floor, so Vlad waited for a Healer to pass who didn't look panicked before flagging them down.

"Dracula!"

"Yeah, that's me. Hey, how do you treat Dragon Pox these days?"

"Why?"

"Because I need to treat someone, and I don't know how. Not a common complaint for a vampire."

They had the wrong body chemistry for a lot of breather sicknesses, including the magical ones, and Vlad hadn't had the time to brush up on all the possible sicknesses Amara might yet get - Harry had similar protection from his Basilisk side.

"We use the cure, though it's still being perfected at the moment."

"What's the issue with it? Side effects? Or does it need to be administered within a timeframe to be effective?"

The Healer tapped her quill against her chin. As Vlad waited, he reasoned that he could have popped back to see Ingrid and ask, but she'd probably have wanted to come back with him, and while _he _trusted her entirely, Ingrid was not always the most personable, approachable vampire, and the dragon people were already a bit on edge.

"It is more effective, but Dragon Pox also tends to compound any other minor afflictions and make them worse, so we see a lot of older folks succumb to it, but it also weakens the immune system so they contract other illnesses."

"Well, that hasn't happened yet, so will the cure be effective?"

"You can certainly try."

"Ok... where do I get it? Or at least the recipe?"

He doubted a human dose would work for the Vipertooths. They were quite a bit bigger. Harry would probably have a better head for scaling up the dosage.

"Third door on the left, ask for Frank, tell him Jenny sent you. He'll get you the formula and a dose, so you know how it should look."

A little surprised by how helpful she was being, Vlad wasn't complaining and thanked her keenly before turning to follow her instructions. She reached out and touched his shoulder, making him jump. She apologised.

"Sorry. But I just wanted to say... what you and Harry Potter went through to end the war was enormous, and I doubt you've truly seen much appreciation. Here at St Mungos, we're _very _grateful. We saw far, far too many wounded. So... thank you."

Vlad nodded tightly, realising now why she was so keen to be of help.

"Uh. You're welcome. And I'll pass that along to Harry."

Jenny gave him that indulgent smile Vlad recognised, the one Mrs Weasley often gave the young couples around her. He escaped then, and the tiny wizard with a shock of bright green hair that stuck up three inches in the air was just as keen to help him as Jenny had been, scuttling around desks he barely stood any taller than, rifling through books before finding what he wanted. He copied the page out for the formula for Vlad, and even gave him _three _doses to take with him instead of the one he expected.

"Thank you, this is a big help."

"You're welcome!"

Frank squealed before throwing himself back in to his oversized desk chair, hunched over writing so tightly scrawled Vlad could barely make out that it wasn't in English. Bats only knew what Frank's actual job was, but he'd been very helpful. Vlad found an empty hallway and popped out, landing back in Norway feeling a bit dizzy with the strange human interactions. One of the dragon folk was waiting for him, led him back through to where they'd started.

"Ok, so first things first, both of you should look at this and check if anything in the list is unsafe for dragons."

Harry was several inches shorter than Valka, but much wider than her, so she almost seemed to be a second head as she leant over Harry's shoulder to read the list with him.

"Can't see anything wrong here. I don't have enough ingredients to brew enough to dose this whole room though."

"I only have three bottles, but that's enough to see if it's worth brewing up a batch right?"

Harry agreed, and so they picked what Valka said was the most recently infected dragon - they'd be the most likely to respond to a cure. As they waited, Harry was already making notes on a spare piece of parchment about possible alterations he'd make to the formula in the future, musing on theories about why it wasn't fully effective.

"Maybe you and Ingrid can work on it together, she's into Healing."

His mate hummed, nodded.

"Good idea."

After half an hour or so of _nothing _happening (other than Amara trying to pet the dragons), there was a promising turn as the dragons scales started to even out, lumps and blisters shrinking back in to their body. It didn't remove every single one, or do much for the mottled colouring, but it was enough for Harry to start working out how much he'd need to dose each dragon.

"This recipe would fit in a small, and a small cauldronful makes six doses, I'm thinking each dragon will need five. If you pick up a bigger one, I could probably make a sixty dose batch. I wouldn't make it any bigger, but it only takes two hours to brew once everything is mixed so I can always do a couple of batches."

Marvelling at his mates mind for potions, Vlad took Harry's request for amounts of ingredients and the cauldron

"The Apothecary is gonna love me. Behave yourself Amara."

In response, Amara blew a raspberry at Vlad. The humans around them tittered as Vlad got up and popped himself out, leaving Harry to figure out where he was going to set himself up to brew.

Vlad opted to go to an Apothecary down in Romania, because going to Diagon Alley was probably going to cause a stir. They were thrilled to see the huge order, from _him _no less, and scrambled to procure everything all at once while trying to show due deference to Vlad.

That was something he was going to have to get used to, probably. They gave him the requisite bag with Undetectable Extension charm, so it looked as though Vlad could have only bought a small handful of things.

"Anything else?"

"Oh, yeah. Giant cauldron."

"How giant are we talking?"

"About ten times the size of that one."

Vlad pointed to the one hanging on the wall in rows, waiting to be bought by students or mothers brewing their childrens medicine. The shopkeeper scuttled off to the back, there were several loud clangs and colourful Romanian curses, and then the giant cauldron was being levitated through to Vlad.

"Oh, one more thing" Vlad remembered, as the cauldron came to rest on the ground "I need the strongest broad spectrum antivenom you have, biggest bottle available."

Peruvian Vipertooth dragons had a bite almost as bad as Vlad or Harry's. Once they were cured, they might feel snappy, and Vlad wasn't sure if everyone in the nest had had the time to build up immunity or their own cures. And there was Amara to think of, though Vlad was fairly content their son was quite safe between his two fathers - the constitutions of vampires and basilisks meant they were able to take the hit, including venom, and be fine (at least in comparison to an average human... Vlad wasn't sure he'd _love _being bitten by a Vipertooth).

Romania was also a better choice than Diagon Alley for anti-venoms, because so many dragons migrated through Romania over the last few hundred years, a sort of cure-all _had _to be developed for the rural villages, who didn't necessarily have easy access to a hospital or a skilled Potions Master.

The size of the bottle was almost comical, but it was guaranteed to last for fifteen years (so parents could buy a bottle to see their child through puberty), so Vlad figured he could leave it at the dragon nest and they'd probably get more use out of it. He filled out the receipt to pay with his Gringotts vault rather than count out the ridiculous amount of coins he'd need for it all, and once everything was packed up, he left with only a small bag containing everything he needed, and the words "please come again!" ringing in his ears.

It had been a nice little nostalgia, he admitted, to hear a Romanian accent again. Especially one not coming from someone trying to undermine him. He and Ingrid had both had their Romanian accents diluted by Stokely and Scotland, and their father had intentionally developed a haughty tone that didn't quite come from anywhere specifically.

When he returned to Norway, Vlad fished out his bottle of soya blood and took a long drink - the constant jumping around the continent between different temperatures could wear on even _him _if he wasn't drinking enough, especially surrounded by so many humans, without Harry always there to temper him. It earned him a disgusted look from his human escort, but they didn't comment on it.

"Did you get everything?"

"Yep."

He held up his little bag, which didn't seem to look promising.

"That's everything?"

"Yes. We have charms that allow us to make virtually unlimited spaces within small-looking containers. We fit houses in tents. I could house a dragon in my school trunk if I wanted."

From what Vlad understood of the old tales, the Dragon Mother had a mutually beneficial relationship of safety and protection with those persecuted for 'practicing magic', or rather, simply being witches or wizards. It seemed over the years, perhaps with the growing acceptance and more solid magical communities, that Valka had taken on some who were simply caring humans to help care for all dragons.

Dragons were still a long way from anything like acceptance, after all. Except for with Hagrid, of course.

"Dada!"

Amara chirped on sight of Vlad, beaming at him. Vlad let himself melt a little at the obvious love there before he focused on what they were there for. He traded Harry the bag for the boy, and while Harry set up his brewing station, Vlad explained the anti-venom to the humans there.

"I figure some of you have built up some natural immunity to venomous dragon bites, but this is for just in case."

"And it works on _every_ dragon?"

"It might not cure every bite, but at the very least it'll give you time to get more help."

Valka's son frowned.

"We're kinda on our own up here most of the time."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna leave you something here to let you be able to call me for help. I can never leave things alone, and it's nice to talk to immortals who don't want to kill me. And I can be here pretty much instantly, as you've seen."

"Yeah, how come you can pop out, but not in?"

Vlad shrugged.

"Magic is weird like that. _I_ can bypass pretty much all magic, because phoenix magic is so unique, but something in me _knows_ that I can't just pop back in here, but that it would let me out."

He set up a little magical playpen so Amara could crawl around a bit, dropped some toys and his little napping mat in there too. Harry had an audience for his brewing, but he was handling that alright. So Vlad sat down with Valka and her son as he charmed some blank books to become two-way communicators, tying two copies to his one.

"Whatever you write in here will show up in mine. If it's urgent, you can use these" Vlad handed them both toy dragons, which earned him wry grins "hold them in your hand and think about this" he held up his matching toy "and it'll let me know you need help _now."_

Valka turned the toy over in her hands a few times, frowning thoughtfully.

"Why are you so keen to help us?"

Vlad shrugged.

"I'm stuck being this half-alive, half-dead creature who has to manage their bloodlust for all eternity, but I was lucky enough that I don't have to do that alone" Vlad looked over to Harry, dead heart warming at the sight of his mate "and I'm also stuck with more power than I know what to do with, and three millenia of damage done by my own kind to undo. You chose to spend your immortality here, protecting dragons. I choose to spend mine trying to make the world a little better than it was when I came in to it."

Which wasn't going to be easy, especially when it came to the vampire world, or the relationships between vampires and humans, vampires and magic, even vampires and werewolves... but Vlad did have the luxury of _time._

"Ok, that just has to be left to brew for an hour, stirred a few times, then brew for another half an hour. Then it _should _turn purple, and it's good to go. Nobody touch it, it will give you a very unpleasant rash."

Harry warned the others, his face one of thought before setting up a little magical 'fence' around the base of the cauldron, both so it couldn't tip over easily, and so any passing dragon was less likely to knock it over. Then he came to sit next to Vlad, proximity loosening his muscles and distracting him from the scent of edible humans.

"You may stay with your magical brew and your child. The vampire will come with me."

Harry and Vlad shared a look.

"Why?"

"I thought you wanted to meet her? I only ever bring one at a time. Your mate and your child are safe, you have my word."

Vlad looked to Harry again, and his mate gave an encouraging nod.

"We'll be fine. I'm still the biggest reptile in here."

"If you're sure?"

"Of course. Go. This is what we trekked across Norway for. That and the views."

"Not the lutefisk?"

Harry glared. Vlad laughed.

"Never again."

Vlad got up, casting one last look toward a dozing Amara and an encouraging Harry, before he turned to follow Valka.

-YDHP-

**I promise Y7 will also include stuff about Harry, but Vlad's on a tighter timeline than his mate what with politics creeping up on him.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Despite my introverted nature, I'm actually taking a serious hit to my mental health because of the current situation with covid-19 as it has caused major disruptions to my usual routines, and my perception of time is completely ruined as a result. So what I'm saying is... I'm sorry, I didn't realise it had been so long.**

-YDHP-

Valka led him through winding tunnels, the two of them passing dragons and a couple more humans, leading him deeper and deeper down. There were rooms expanded by magic that forked off from the main path he followed her along. He heard the mother before they got close enough to see her; the sound of a _huge, _heavy heart, thumping regularly to carry blood through the very first dragon.

Vlad wasn't totally sure what he was expecting; nobody had any true records of the dragon mother, just snippets here and there, and if anyone who had been sheltered by her before had left the 'nest', they hadn't shared much. It was a lot of work for Vlad to even guess at Norway, and there was always a chance he was wrong.

He was very glad he wasn't.

He saw Valka lower her head and bow in deference, copied her quickly. When he dared look up again, hoping not to be incinerated on the spot, he was awestruck.

She wasn't as big as he'd expected, but by no means _small. _He guessed her length at about a hundred and fifty feet, but the cavern she resided in could have held a dragon five times that. Ukranian Ironbellies were one of the biggest species known to magic, and they usually topped out between sixty and seventy feet long.

"Wow. She's huge!"

"Not always, but I think she's asserting her dominance over you."

Vlad let out a short laugh.

"Well, she doesn't need to be that big to do it. Can she shift her shape then?"

Valka nodded.

"Her size, yes, to some extent. It tires her to do it often. Much of her time is spent resting."

"Fair. Vampries that hit two thousand years are rare, and they're all old and frail by then anyway. She's in remarkable shape."

He cocked his head, trying to take her all in. Most of her scales were a rich, dark red, looking near-black until the light caught it. There were patches of grey and white scales scattered along her body, some around her huge muzzle and snout, others along the back of her legs.

_Well, here goes nothing, _Vlad thought, as he looked up into huge, golden eyes, focusing on how he'd been able to speak with dragons before.

"Hi. My names Vlad. I'm a vampire."

Hoping she didn't roast him on the spot, Vlad waited. Valka tipped her head to the side, eyes flickering between dragon and vampire. It took a full minute - Vlad counted by Valka's heart beating - before the mother dragon even moved, flexing her foreclaws before settling with her head resting on her forelegs.

_"You know who I am?"_

"I think so. From what I gather, we're sort of... related?"

Despite not actually _needing _to, Vlad still found himself holding his breath as she leant forward slightly, sniffing at him with her massive nostrils.

_"No ordinary vampire, are you?"_

"No. I'm the Chosen One. Apparently. Not entirely sure what I'm chosen _for_ yet. Legends are always a little vague."

A light snuffle of warm air passed over him, though given her size Vlad thought an ordinary human might have simply been knocked over.

_"That they are, but perhaps it is to protect. Do you know of my brother?"_

"Seethius? He's mentioned in a few old books as one of the very first vampires. Perhaps the very first. There's nobody around _now _who was alive then. Except you, I suppose."

The Mother took a few steps back from him, and Vlad watched as the air around her shimmered, as she seemed to shrink in on herself before a more modest dragon of around twenty feet towered over him.

"Is she just getting down to a good size to eat me?"

He asked Valka, who shook her head with a light laugh.

"No. She's offering a show of good faith so that you will trust her and tell her more."

"Oh. Ok. Wait, do you understand me and her?"

"More or less. You pick things up over the centuries."

Vlad nodded; he could see that it was strange for her to say such a thing, no doubt not used to being able to speak so freely of her lengthy lifespan. As the Dragon Mother laid back down in front of him, much easier to keep eye contact now she was so much closer to the ground, Vlad looked around before asking permission to borrow one of the nearby boulders, which he perched on as a slightly damp seat.

"What do you want to know?"

They whiled away what felt like _years _talking, the Mother pressing Vlad for all the information he had on the history that had taken place while she was forced to hide herself away.

"I'm a little young to know everything yet, but I do have a mentor who's about four hundred, and history is his hobby. If you like, I can bring him here and translate for you some time?"

_"You wish to expose the secret of my existence to others?"_

"Nobody I wouldn't trust, and it's entirely your choice. I'm very aware that it's an honour to have been allowed to meet you myself, I just thought you may want answers from somebody who knows a lot more than I do."

After a while, she grew tired, and Valka placed a hand on Vlad's shoulder.

"It's time we left her to rest."

"Alright. If you ever want to talk, or change your mind, Valka knows how to get hold of me."

_"Very well. I will call on you again in the future."_

Vlad bowed before they left, after putting back the borrowed rock where he found it. His legs were a little stiff from being stationary so long, and when he got back he found Harry looking oddly relieved. He himself was glad to see his mate and their son well and happy.

"You've been hours!"

"Really? Hard to tell in there. Sorry to worry you."

Harry nodded, hugging Vlad tight and kissing him softly.

"I get it, must have been a big deal. I finished brewing, and look! The dragons are all feeling better, see?"

Both Valka and Vlad were happy to see the Pox cure had worked its magic, each of the dragons back to their normal colour, only a few little pustules visible and they were shrunken, would be gone in no time at all.

"He's right mom, their cure worked."

"That is good news. And we thank you for your help."

"Any time. We're kind of big fans of reptiles."

Vlad snorted. That was putting it mildly.

"You may spend the night if you wish, and see more of the nest before you leave."

Harry hmm-ed to himself, looking around.

"Is there somewhere safe? I get that _you _trust the dragons, and maybe they see you as part of their nest, but I'm worried about Amara. He's not as immortal and unbreakable as us."

"Of course. We wouldn't put your child in harms way."

They were invited to eat with the others first, which brought the awkward explanation that they both often ate their meat completely raw. The few dragons that joined them to eat seemed amused.

"Ok, so, I get the blood sucker wanting it with blood in, but what are you doing eating raw meat?"

Harry shrugged, holding his hunk of deer meat in his hands.

"Uh. It's complicated, but... I'm kind of part reptile. My eating used to be a lot worse, I was hungry _alllll _the time when I was growing. Believe it or not, I used to be underweight."

It was hard to believe now, seeing Harry so powerfully built.

The humans looked quite confused, but opted to ignore the two eating their meat raw. Vlad was done first, cleaned his hands and face up before feeding Amara some pre-made baby food and a bottle he warmed up.

"How are you _part _reptile?"

One of the humans - a stocky, square jawed one that they hadn't seen until it was dinner time - asked. Harry cleaned himself up and pondered while Vlad was still feeding Amara, obviously trying to choose an explanation.

"I was bitten by a magical snake when I was younger. The venom should have killed me, but it sort of... altered me instead. Made me big and strong and slightly venemous. Gave me a taste for raw meat, but also sugar, which I think is probably the human side of me's need for carbohydrates ramped up to compensate for my size. That and fudge is delicious."

A few of their company shuffled away from Harry at that, but he simply chuckled.

"I'm only venemous if I bite you. Wasn't planning on it."

They chatted about the Dragon Pox cure and the advancements in Potions over the last hundred years or so for a little while after dinner, before Valka showed them to a room - well, it was more of a cave, but they were _very_ used to that - with a magically constructed bathroom through the only other door.

"I didn't think you'd want a room with a view. Vampires and sunlight still don't mix, correct?"

"Correct. It's fine, we've lived in a tent for most of the last year or so. Thank you, by the way."

She inclined her head, then left them for the night. Harry changed Amara while Vlad set up his travel cot, adding a couple of security charms to their space (just in case). The day had been long and pretty intense, so the two adults were more than happy to crawl into the offered bed, though there was space enough they could have set up their tent if needed.

"So, you saw her? The Dragon Mother?"

"I did. I spoke to her, that was why we were gone a while."

"Huh. What do you talk to a three thousand year old dragon about? What was she like?"

"Incredible. Enormous. Sort of. And she wanted to hear what I knew of her brother Seethius, the other side of the curse put on her family."

Harry absorbed the information slowly before yawning into his hand, curling happily into Vlad's chest when offered.

"Sleep, we can talk about this any time."

"Mmm."

His mate was asleep almost before Vlad was done talking. Smiling fondly, Vlad glanced over to Amara, who was sleeping soundly in his cot, before extinguishing the orb of light hovering in the air.

The morning brought them a tour of the nest, meeting a broader variety of dragons and humans and occasionally impressing them with their knowledge of the various species. Valka found their story about Hagrid and Norbert amusing, wrinkling her nose at the 'recipe' of brandy and chicken blood.

"Delightful."

She went to check on the Mother while Harry checked on the progress of the dragons that had been treated for Dragon Pox.

"Vlad?"

"Yeah?"

"May I speak with you?"

"Sure."

He placed Amara down in his charmed playpen, watched over by Harry and a few others - and headed over to Valka.

"What's up?"

"The Mother wishes to speak with Harry. Is he able to communicate as you do?"

Avidly curious about what was wanted of Harry, Vlad forced himself to calm down a bit and answer.

"Uh, not quite. He can speak _to _dragons, but doesn't understand what they say back. He's better with snakes. I can translate, or if she only wants one of us, you could?"

She nodded slowly.

"I will, she needs her rest."

"Alright. I'll get him."

He watched as Harry followed Valka, obviously a bit bemused but equally excited to meet the Mother. Vlad was curious to the point of anxious pacing until Amara decided to sit on his lap, smiling up at Vlad in between staring at dragons. Harry's emotions ranged from awestruck to confused - their bond was not muted by even the powerful magic of the nest, which was some relief for Vlad, as it meant he knew Harry was ok.

Harry returned sooner than Vlad had the previous day, though Vlad had only left with sated curiousity and new questions. _Harry, _on the other hand, had reappeared with confusion on his face and something in his hands.

"So, how was that?"

He lifted the thing in his hands a little higher, turning it this way and that so Vlad could figure out the shape.

"She gave me an egg."

-YDHP-

**Hope everyone is staying safe!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Has anyone else started learning to cook more things just to feel like you've made use of quarantine? Cus I have, but it just means I keep eating all the time.**

-YDHP-

Harry felt _very _aware of the weight in his hands, terrified he was about to drop it and then be killed by the Dragon Mother for not taking care of her egg.

"She gave you an _egg?_"

Vlad was staring at it like it was going to explode in his face.

"Yep."

"A dragon egg?"

"Well, that's a pretty safe bet in a dragon nest. I didn't lay this myself."

There was scattered snickering at Harry's response, but everyone - except Valka, who'd been there translating and so knew what was going on - was still pretty surprised by the whole egg thing. Including Harry himself.

"Well... alright then. I guess we could always do with more scaled things."

Vlad commented, which made Harry laugh. They _did _seem to accumulate reptiles at a rather alarming rate sometimes.

"Yeah. She didn't really say when it was going to hatch though. I'm gonna go find something to wrap it in, because I am _petrified_ of dropping it."

Holding Amara in his arms, Vlad followed Harry to where their things were in a corner.

"How do we know when it's going to hatch then?"

"She said we'd know in advance, but that it's not gonna do anything before it's... time? Ready? Some of the translations are a bit vague. I guess she did first learn language three millenia ago."

"And then from different people, all over the world. I think Valka's probably her most consistent source, so I suppose it's lucky she was your translator."

Finding the old magically expanded pouch Vlad once made him to carry Lily around in as she grew - which she had, but now spent her time in the trunk with Samael and Nagini, so the bag was largely defunct - Harry placed the egg in gingerly. The Dragon Mother had told him he needed to keep it safe and not let it get _too _cold, but it didn't need any real heat until it gave signs of being ready to hatch.

So he was going to have to keep an eye on it, as she had been awfully vague about the _when_ of that. But then, what were human days or weeks to a three thousand year old dragon? Even a whole _year_ was a blink to her at her great age.

Conjuring a handle for the pouch, Harry slipped it over his body like a messenger bag.

"That should do it."

"Almost..." Vlad ran his fingers from one end of the strap to the other "unbreakable charm."

"Oh. Good shout."

Bored of being ignored, Amara reached for Harry to get his attention, thrilled when both his dads were focused on him again. He was sweet, but so _very _spoilt for attention, having scarcely been alone a single waking hour ever since they stole him from under Voldemort's nose.

"This is for you."

Valka handed a piece of paper to Vlad when she saw him, and it was written in a very strange, archaic sort of lettering. Harry peered at it, and some of it _seemed _to make sense, but it hurt his head to look at.

"Is that written in parseltongue?"

Vlad cocked his head, staring intently at the shapes.

"Not quite. I think maybe the two languages are related, but not identical. That's why snakes understand you perfectly, but with dragons it seems to be more of a general gist than a word for word. Care instructions for when the egg hatches, right?"

"Yes. She knew you would understand these words better than your mate, but he is better suited to care for the egg."

Harry supposed that was because he ran warmer than Vlad - despite his cooler blood as a part-reptile, Harry _did _still have a heartbeat, and a rather demanding metabolism. Vlad's body only _needed_ the nutrients found in blood, or the simulation of them in soya blood, to maintain itself, though exertion did raise his needs.

"Right. Ok. Well, we'll take good care of it. I'll contact you if we need help, or if it happens before we need to see each other again, if it hatches I guess?"

Valka nodded.

"That sounds good."

"And if you need more outsider help, you can always contact us."

"I appreciate that. And I am _incredibly_ grateful for your help with the sick dragons."

Harry grinned. Amara copied him, and Valka smiled in turn at them both.

"Of course. It wasn't really that hard. Not that we wouldn't have helped if it _was, _but you know. No big deal this time."

Vlad made up a bottle for Amara when he got hungry, and after that, they couldn't justify staying much longer - they'd seen the nest, met the Mother and had been rather absent from everyone else's lives for a while.

"We should get going. It's gonna be impossible for us to _not_ tell some of our friends and family that we found this place, especially when they notice Harry is now the proud owner of his very own dragon egg. They knew what we were looking for. But the location and protections of this place will stay with just the two of us. And Amara, but he's not going to be telling on us."

Obviously still not _that _impressed they'd be saying anything at all, Valka seemed to see Vlad's words as reasonable enough.

"Alright. The egg must not leave your possession or protection."

"Oh, obviously. I'm never gonna be able to leave it alone as it is."

Harry responded, highly aware of the bag resting against his side with the egg in it even with Amara occasionally fussing in his arms.

"That's not a bad thing though. That way my mom won't have to come after you. She can be scary when she wants to be."

"Oh, do be quiet son."

She was smiling, and her son giggled to himself.

"Well, don't let us keep you. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

"Me too. Say bye Amara."

"Bye!"

Everyone blinked in surprise - Amara babbled more than he spoke, about the only milestone he was slow to meet. So the verbal goodbye was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps spending most of their time around people speaking in Norwegian, and not so much to _him, _had slowed his verbal development the last few weeks. They'd have more company soon.

"Ready to head home?"

"Ready when you are."

Vlad shouldered his backpack, their tent and trunks and _life _packed away in there. Harry held their son, a dragon egg resting against his hip in its bag. Vlad's friendly dragon Fury came over to say goodbye, before (apparently) informing Vlad he was off to find some sunlight to lounge in.

Harry shifted Amara to one arm, reaching the other out to hold Vlad's hand. Then the dragon nest around them faded to black, replaced an instant later with the sight of the home gifted to them by Draco.

"What day is it?"

Was Harry's first question - there was a pile of mail in the owl receptacle, but they hadn't decided to subscribe to the Daily Prophet in that house yet (it was good to know what the Minsitry were spinning, if nothing else). Vlad, more aware of the cycle of day to night and back again, likely had a better idea of how many days they'd been away.

"Couple of days into August."

"So we missed my birthday?"

Vlad nodded, and Harry was ready to argue if Vlad apologised for not mentioning it. They'd had other things going on, and he hadn't felt like he'd missed anything.

"Yes, but we also missed Amara's first birthday. So, you two can share a party?"

Harry nodded, nuzzling their son's soft cheek until he squealed and laughed.

"Sounds good. I need a nap or something before we start telling people we're back though."

"Go for it. Amara could do with a nap too, see if he'll go down. I'm gonna unpack and then I'll come join you?"

Agreeing that it sounded good, Harry kissed his boyfriend before they parted ways. He was grateful for Vlad's making the room look familiar to them before they left - it was comforting to return to somewhere Harry felt _at _home. It was going to take time getting used to regularly being somewhere with _stairs _after so long in their tent, both before and during their trip through Norway.

He took off the bag with the egg in carefully, lifting the egg out very nervously. It was unharmed, and felt warm enough to the touch that Harry felt sure he hadn't let it get 'too cold', as he'd been warned against. He'd need to ask Vlad about the care instructions. In a while. He put it back in the bag, then set the bag down in an empty box and placed it out of child-hand range.

Amara _did _want to lie down, but with Harry and not in his cot. Not seeing any need to argue, Harry laid down and settled Amara on his chest. Thrilled to get his way, Amara settled quickly. Harry was asleep soon after that, stirring just enough to notice Vlad's reappearance when the vampire was putting clothes into their empty wardrobes, but the vampire took mere seconds to do so with magic, and his weight sank the mattress next to Harry. He was asleep again within seconds.

The nap did wonders for Harry, feeling rested and refreshed when he woke again. Amara was awake too, gurgling quietly in Vlad's lap where the vampire sat next to his slumbering mate.

"Hey."

"Hey. Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Oh Merlin, yes. I wasn't even tired, I just needed... that."

Vlad smiled.

"Needing some decompression after a month in another country is normal. Besides, we've had a weird last couple of days."

"You can say that again."

Curing dragons of dragon pox, meeting the Mother of all dragons, being given his very own egg to care for... and that was without including meeting a thousand year old dragon carer and her son, or the hours of strange conversations they'd had with the nest of people who cared for the many dragons.

"Did the instructions Valka gave you say anything about caring for the egg, or just the hatchling?"

"Just the hatchling. One of the reasons the Mother chose _you _to care for it is that your venom-enriched blood will work as a way to feed them."

"Really?"

Vlad nodded.

"Yup. Dragons have venom too, and feed their hatchlings with a... secretion. She promises that it won't take too much, which I think was aimed at me as the protective mate."

Harry couldn't help laughing.

"She had you pegged after one conversation!"

Vlad stuck his tongue out.

"Hush you. Go back to sleep."

"I would, but I'm hungry."

They headed down to the kitchen, which Vlad had stocked with the groceries kept in their tent kitchen and Draco had left stocked with equipment. Harry took Amara to change while Vlad made the boy a bowl of mashed bananas, and did some very rare steaks for the adults. They never went without meat in their fridge, as one of the things they could both eat with ease that sated both Basilisk and vampire cravings.

"We're good for a couple of days, so I figure we can do the rounds of letting everyone know we're alive and all that, and then we can do a proper shop and stock up for the kitchen and lab. And now I have somewhere I can store it, I can stockpile soya blood. And there is a study, but it's a little small. So I'm thinking of taking out the wall between it and the adjoining bedroom, because we're going to accumulate a lot of books if we're around a while."

Harry understood - while they could enlarge the room with magic, it wasn't always good for the building that housed said expansion, and they _did _have a lot of bedrooms. They'd not miss one, and Vlad was going to need somewhere to work and easily access his books when he took over the Vampire High Council.

"Yes Vlad, I'm ok with you having your own library."

Vlad chuckled.

"Thank you."

Fed, watered, rested and in Amara's case, freshly changed, they were about ready to go let everybody know they were back. Harry packed his egg - leaving it to nap or eat or shower was one thing, but he remembered Valka's words well. It wasn't to leave their protection.

"Ready to go?"

Vlad held his hand out, Amara nestled in the hold of his other arm. Harry reached out, grasped Vlad's fingers.

"Ready when you are."

-YDHP-

**Hopefully this all came out coherent enough, as I finished + checked it just before going to sleep.**


	12. Important Announcement

**This isn't a decision I came to lightly. I've thought long and hard about this, gone back and forth multiple times.**

**I've been open before that this story was a struggle for me, but things have come to a head.**

**As a non-binary, queer person, JK Rowling's increasingly abhorrent transphobia was the final nail in my ability to write in this fandom. **

**Me, my friends and people all over the world like us are at increasing risk, every single day, of violence, abuse and murder. For someone like JK, who has the platform and choice to mould minds all over the world with her words... **

**I can't stay here. It's tainted.**

**Now, I've written down my plans for the fic. I've backed them up online. If I ever feel like I can finish this, I'll have that. But that's no promise.**

**As an apology for the potentially permanent abandonment... I'll offer a tidbit to answer a question I've had several times.**

**Harry's pregnant. The timing of this is no accident - the child and the dragon egg are connected, though the child is not _in _the egg.**


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